Thesaurus results for BONKING

bonking

verb

present participle of bonk

as in smacking

to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner an overhead branch suddenly fell and bonked him on the head

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of bonking Seffrin and his team note that their study suggests that men might be able to thwart bonking by running slower in the first half of a marathon and getting continually faster as the race progresses, a pacing strategy known as negative splitting. — Claire Maldarelli, Scientific American, 2 July 2026 Those misses rarely occurred in season two, but three episodes into this season, the bat is flying wildly around the stadium, bonking people in the head in a freak mass-casualty bat-event. — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 22 June 2026 Watch the baby birds bonking at the video at the top of the story. — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bonking

Verb

Carrington was ejected from the game in the first half after smacking Cunningham across the face during Cunningham's layup attempt.

— Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Aug. 2026
Catcher Daniel Susac followed up Wednesday’s two-home-run game by smacking a two-run shot, and the Giants bullpen didn’t break down while protecting a 4-1 victory.

— Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 31 July 2026

Definition of smacking

Verb

Season five ended abruptly after a video leaked of Taylor Frankie Paul throwing a stool at her ex Dakota Mortensen and almost hitting her daughter.

— Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2026
Kyle Schwarber led off with a single, hitting another later in the inning.

— Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of hitting

Verb

In 2015, Ben Hiscox died after falling backwards and banging his head on the clubhouse wall during an amateur game at Stoke Gifford, near Bristol.

— Stuart James, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
As the spot ends, the robot is left banging its head against a wall.

— Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of banging

Verb

Arch Manning's joking comments at a news conference about a fake video of coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe erupted in controversy.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026
Texas quarterback Arch Manning has apologized for his public reaction to a video that was altered by AI to show Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe and knocking her to the ground.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of slapping

Verb

Next, the door becomes his battering ram, knocking three enemies down to the landing below him.

— Chris Klimek, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2026
Some of the entries this year have been knocking on the Hall door for years, including Tickle Me Elmo, the Pokémon Trading Card Game and Mahjong.

— ABC News, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of knocking

Verb

Houston will host the Kansas City Royals, owners of the fifth-worst record in baseball, and the Rangers will host the Boston Red Sox, a club on the verge of punching its own ticket to October.

— Johnny Flores Jr, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
The victim tackled Cunningham and started punching him, and took the gun.

— Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of punching

Verb

Suddenly, a 2004 Ford Expedition barreled into the intersection from the wrong direction at a high rate of speed, slamming into the middle of the bus.

— Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
Back when the first trailer for Scream 7 was released last October, fans quickly began slamming the movie on social media, calling for a boycott.

— Glenn Garner, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of slamming

Verb

There are frightening stories of swordfish charging boats, and even spearing their transoms and whacking propellers.

— Bob McNally, Outdoor Life, 26 Aug. 2026
Yes, there were moments of humor, such as getting magic potions around the campfire at the end of each stage by whacking helpless little elves, but most of it was played straight, to great effect.

— Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of whacking

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“Bonking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bonking. Accessed 20 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of bonking

verb

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