BRANCHES Synonyms: 97 Similar and Opposite Words

branches 1 of 2

noun

plural of branch

as in limbs

a major outgrowth from the main stem of a woody plant I loved climbing among the branches of that old tree

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in affiliates

a local unit of an organization a bank with many neighborhood branches

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as in tributaries

a stream that flows into a larger body of water the Blue Nile, the Atbara, and the White Nile are the three primary branches of the Nile River

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in departments

a large unit of a governmental, business, or educational organization the two branches of the U.S. Congress

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branches

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of branch

as in radiates

to extend outwards from or as if from a central point threads branched from the center of the spider web

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 branches

Noun

At the time, TD Bank noted that at least 25% of the new branches in the city would be located in majority-minority or low-to-moderate-income areas. — Chase Jordan july 31, Charlotte Observer, 31 July 2026 Putnam And Leadership Functionalism, and the vast majority of Putnam’s ideas, belong to the realm of analytic philosophy, one of the two major branches of 20th-century philosophy, along with continental philosophy. — Theodore McDarrah, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026 Loki built an entire series around the TVA, the bureaucracy tasked with policing different timeline branches. — Eliana Dockterman, Time, 31 July 2026 The other branches—the archaic hominins, as scientists call them—include the Neanderthals, who lived across Europe and western Asia, and the Denisovans, who are known mostly from a handful of fossils found in Siberia and Tibet. — Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 30 July 2026 Additionally, there were large branches broken off trees in the yard of a home. — Bryan Lynn, CBS News, 29 July 2026 At the base, blueberry shrubs have multiple canes (or branches) that grow directly out of the earth in clumps. — Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 28 July 2026 Tweens dangle from the branches of trees lining the sidewalk. — Marina Lopes, Christian Science Monitor, 28 July 2026 Citizens is closing at least 100 of its supermarket outposts, replacing about half with standalone, full-service branches. — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 24 July 2026

Verb

His demise, paired with the disappearance of mobster-type Nicky Caccimelio (Bobby Cannavale), sets the trio on the first phase of their adventures, which inevitably branches into fresh red herrings in customary Only Murders fashion. — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 9 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for branches

Noun

Their bodies are built up in thick paint, their limbs modeled with short lateral strokes that wrap each arm into a solid cylinder.

— Carmen Rosenberg-Miller, Artforum, 6 Aug. 2026
Crawling laterally challenges frontal-plane control under load, requiring your core to respond to shifting weight while your limbs move rather than locking down.

— Dana Santas, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of limbs

Noun

Missouri Workers Center and affiliates The Missouri Workers Center — and its affiliated groups Missouri Workers Power and Stand Up KC — are the main opponents to the city’s plan to help fund the stadium project.

— Dylan Lysen July 29, Kansas City Star, 29 July 2026
Earlier this month, the 48-year-old responded to Yayo’s comments during his appearance on The Breakfast Club, highlighting Yayo and other G-Unit affiliates’ seeming reliance on 50 Cent for their livelihood.

— Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 28 July 2026

Definition of affiliates

Noun

Presidio is protected by a series of berms and levees built in the 1970s and 1980s along the Rio Grande and tributaries to combat flooding.

— Rebecca Santana, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026
Chesapeake Bay tributaries are important spawning areas, producing between 70% and 90% of the coastwide population of striped bass.

— Ken Perrotte, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of tributaries

Noun

The county executive’s chartered responsibilities include overseeing the county’s municipal departments, correcting errors in tax assessments, executing certain contracts, upholding the county charter and representing the county in general.

— Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 5 Aug. 2026
Early Tuesday morning, the volcano spewed lava that reached a height of about 300 meters (984 feet), triggering red alerts, evacuations, a highway’s closure, and the suspension of classes in three departments.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of departments

Verb

Mulch and smart watering finish the job Bare soil bakes in the sun and radiates that heat back into the yard.

— Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Charlotte Observer, 30 July 2026
Meanwhile, the Alpha Capricornid meteor shower radiates from the Capricornus constellation and tends to feature brighter meteors that are easier to spot — around three per hour as seen from both hemispheres, the American Meteor Society reports.

— Amen Galinato, CNN Money, 29 July 2026

Definition of radiates

Noun

In lab experiments, cells with the Neanderthal receptor grew more than cells with the modern human version.

— Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2026
Prisoners who’d earned the privilege reported to work; those who hadn’t returned to their cells.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of cells

Noun

Wednesday night, about 75 agencies from police to community groups, the mayor's office and district attorney's office came together for the One Downtown Task Force's public safety working session.

— Tammy Mutasa, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
Frank Yiannas, a former FDA deputy commissioner for food policy and response, said that the scale of the outbreak should be an alarm bell for America’s food industry and government agencies.

— Yahya Abou-Ghazala, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026