bucking

verb

present participle of buck
1
as in yanking
to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion the car bucked and stalled

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in resisting
to refuse to give in to bucked the trend to outdo everyone else and just wore the same clothes they had in previous years

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in handing
to shift possession of (something) from one person to another buck each box to the next person in line, and the last person will stack them in the storeroom

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 bucking As of Wednesday, the KBW bank index is down nearly 11% over the past month, bucking the S&P 500’s 1% advance. — Morgan Chittum, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026 Chick-fil-A is bucking a growing fast-food industry trend, with CEO Andrew Cathy saying the chicken chain does not plan to use artificial intelligence to take customers' drive-thru orders. — Staff, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026 Palantir Technologies — The software giant rose more than 2%, bucking the broader market trend, after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy. — Deena Zaidi, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026 Those heavy-for-caliber projectiles penetrate well and shoot flat and do a decent job of bucking the wind thanks to their high ballistic coefficients. — John B. Snow, Outdoor Life, 24 Sep. 2026 But as energy costs have jumped in many parts of the country over the last year — driven in part by data center development and rising gas prices amid the war with Iran — Connecticut is bucking the trend. — John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 18 Sep. 2026 In Season 2, bucking typical TV trends, the show’s ratings grew by 40% domestically and 100% internationally. — Todd Spangler, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026 One in every 60 adults in the archipelago of less than a million people are now estimated to have Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) –– bucking a global trend of falling rates of the incurable, but treatable, virus. — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2026 But the show is also bucking a recent trend of second-season declines for a number of series, and for a smaller series to have its ratings curve go up in season two is notable. — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bucking
  1. yanking
  2. resisting
  3. handing
  4. jerking
  5. opposing
  6. passing
  7. pulling
  8. lurching
Verb
  • Zabransky was the first person to reach Rabb in the end zone, yanking him into the air for a bear hug.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 3 Oct. 2026
  • There’s also an ending that revels in a form of catharsis — for the audience watching the play, not the movie — before yanking that, too, away.
    — David Mack, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of yanking
Verb
  • At the Homo Faber craft festival in Venice this past September, one such work—its mouth opening up like a blooming flower—had onlookers resisting the urge to touch it.
    — Hannah Martin, Architectural Digest, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Ukraine's Eastern European neighbors such as Poland and Romania are resisting a push to allow grain to transit through them — even temporarily — due to concerns about a glut destroying demand for their own crops.
    — Jenni Reid, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of resisting
Verb
  • The picture of Shedeur handing the keys of the program to JuJu said 1,000 words about where Buffs football was heading.
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 10 Oct. 2026
  • The Bulldogs marched into the Treasure Valley last year and defeated Boise State 30-7 at Albertsons Stadium, handing the Broncos one of their worst losses on The Blue in years.
    — Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of handing
Verb
  • And like any great sitcom, Friends runs the gamut from numbing brain-rot to tear-jerking sentimentality.
    — Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Even after a bailiff woke him up, Martin slumped over in his wheelchair, inside a courtroom bullpen, occasionally jerking and opening his eyes.
    — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of jerking
Verb
  • In the film, Rina is driven into exile for opposing the government.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Enough Promises paid the firm Seven Farms more than $397,000 on two dates last week for printing, postage and mail services either supporting Levy or opposing Brown.
    — Julie Carr Smyth, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of opposing
Verb
  • Upon passing through a deep portico entryway abutting an attached two-car garage, a vaulted reception gallery sits beneath a prominent glass atrium.
    — Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 12 Oct. 2026
  • In an Austin school district where buses are equipped with cameras, Waymos were recorded illegally passing them more than twenty times in the past school year—a problem that persisted even after the company tried to fix it.
    — Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of passing
Verb
  • In addition to pulling TikTok ads in the US, the policy will also restrict them in Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
    — Emma Roth, The Verge, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Cyclovia is about people who have turned a simple machine into a way of surviving, celebrating and dreaming, and John’s whole body of work is about pulling Latin stories out of the margins and into the centre of the culture.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of pulling
Verb
  • Maybe this is what the Chargers are — lurching, sputtering and unable to consistently move the football, despite an offensive overhaul packed with lofty expectations.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026
  • One more try and the orchestra slides up the expressive contrast a few notches to intensify the feeling of lurching from mood to mood.
    — Justin Davidson, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of lurching

Browse Nearby Words

buckets
bucking
bucking up
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bucking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bucking. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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