as in cane
a heavy rigid stick used as a weapon or for punishment
guards armed with bludgeons roamed the compound
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in to slap
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
remodelers bludgeoned the wall with a sledgehammer to join the two rooms
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to lick
to strike repeatedly
a boxer bludgeoning his opponent
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bludgeon
Dana Karni, Ibrahim Dahman and Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 14 Feb. 2025
This in turn opens up the music, changing it from a bludgeon to a balm.
—Stephen Kearse, TIME, 8 Dec. 2024
Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 31 May 2025
This time, fans at a racetrack are incinerated, bludgeoned by flying tires, bisected by a car hood, or impaled through a rebar — setups that hold great promise on paper, but don’t live up to their full visual potential.
—Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for bludgeon
Noun
Related article Holocaust becomes political bludgeon as Netanyahu returns to a country at crossroads
Dekel-Chen was 35 years old when he was kidnapped while trying to defend his Nir Oz from Hamas attackers.
—Dana Karni, Ibrahim Dahman and Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 14 Feb. 2025
This in turn opens up the music, changing it from a bludgeon to a balm.
—Stephen Kearse, TIME, 8 Dec. 2024
Verb
Cardoso bludgeoned the Wings for the Chicago Sky’s first 10 points of the 97-92 win.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 31 May 2025
This time, fans at a racetrack are incinerated, bludgeoned by flying tires, bisected by a car hood, or impaled through a rebar — setups that hold great promise on paper, but don’t live up to their full visual potential.
—Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for bludgeon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bludgeon
Noun
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The interiors were inspired by its serene setting in the Serengeti and showcase African art, a neutral color palette, and natural textures, such as linen, clay, grass, and cane.—
Regan Stephens,
Travel + Leisure,
23 June 2025
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Black spot spores can overwinter on rose canes and leaves.—
Rita Perwich,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 June 2025
Verb
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But, everyone's mostly aware, that many celebrities get five-figure treatments and then launch skincare lines, slapping their names on them.—
Tiana Randall,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
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The product was fresh, the money real, and every A&R man from New York to Memphis knew the formula: Find a pretty face, slap a catchy chorus behind it, and watch the allowances roll in.—
Philip Martin,
Arkansas Online,
26 June 2025
Verb
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Two new friends spent the afternoon chatting, licking our deliciously unexpected delights and beginning a life-long bond.—
Susan Cunningham Euker,
Baltimore Sun,
14 June 2025
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The viral post opens with a quiet, intimate moment: the Labrador sits beside her puppy, gently licking her head.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 June 2025
Noun
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Comey delivered her most fiery remarks yet, taking the baton after fellow prosecutor Christy Slavik delivered a five-hour closing argument on Thursday.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
27 June 2025
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Body camera and security footage captured during the rescue, shared by Corona Police on Facebook, showed police through the window of a blue sedan before one of the officers used a baton to smash the front driver’s side window to gain access to the vehicle.—
Abigail Adams,
People.com,
26 June 2025
Verb
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Bregman hit 11 home runs in 226 plate appearances, a rate of one every 20.5 at bats.—
Jon Vankin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 July 2025
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Earlier, in the fourth, Chisholm hit his fourth homer in his last five games.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
1 July 2025
Verb
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The left-hander got pounded a year ago and thumped again in his first taste of big-league action for eight runs in five innings against the Washington Nationals.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
26 June 2025
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Kamala Harris pounded Joe Biden over his stances on busing from the 1970s—a long-ago dispute that even became fodder for J.D. Vance in 2024.—
Andrew Yang,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 June 2025
Noun
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Trump, meanwhile, is opposing Maine on conservative ideological grounds using federal funding as the cudgel to prevail.—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2025
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That survey’s mental health components have also undergirded research on the threat being posed to the nation’s young people by smartphones and social media, which many conservatives have taken up as a cudgel against Big Tech. Or take education.—
Alec MacGillis,
ProPublica,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Anyone who attended the National Restaurant Show in Chicago last month was smacked in the face at booth after booth by a single agenda wrought from desperation: how to harness technology to find ways to use fewer human workers.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
29 June 2025
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Please Tony, stop smacking your lips after every sentence.—
Ticked Off,
The Orlando Sentinel,
23 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bludgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bludgeon. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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