bunched

verb

past tense of bunch
1
as in protruded
to extend outward beyond a usual point the dress bunches a bit at the waist

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in huddled
to gather into a closely packed group the slow service caused the customers at the pick-up counter to bunch up

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 bunched The trio will be bunched together inside of a circle measuring only about 2½ degrees in diameter. — Joe Rao, Space.com, 1 Nov. 2026 The most critical of which came on fourth down, when Wisconsin went five wide, with four receivers bunched on one side. — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2026 Wisconsin came out in an unusual formation, with four wide receivers bunched toward the sideline. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026 Combed off her forehead and bunched at the back of her head, there’s something so diplomatic about Keri Russell‘s signature hairdo. — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026 Along the way, there are a smattering of sea days, typically bunched together in two- or three-day chunks. — Megan Dubois, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2026 He's shifted the entire orchestra closer to the front of the stage at David Geffen Hall and had their seats bunched closer together. — ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026 Harold’s men waded into water with their tunics bunched around their bare thighs. — John Phipps, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026 Gaines chose three different heights of planters with plants that shoot up, vine over the sides, and sit all bunched together. — Jenny Hughes, The Spruce, 5 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bunched
  1. protruded
  2. huddled
  3. poked
  4. crowded
  5. bulged
  6. piled
  7. clustered
Verb
  • The semiaquatic predator’s eyes would have also protruded from the skull, similar to the Indian gharial, because the eye sockets were raised like a telescope, Burke added.
    — Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The stranger’s hollow cheeks, his dark eyes, whose lashes always appeared wet, the bony shoulders that protruded from the singlet Chee Meng had lent him—all of it frightened Shawn.
    — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of protruded
Verb
  • The morning was to turn horribly wrong for the men huddled together.
    — Ron Farina, Hartford Courant, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Filling them with black smoke, with rubble and shattered glass, with frantic firefighters, with civilians huddled at the police line, necks craned.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of huddled
Verb
  • Kessler, standing nearby during Williams’ postgame news conference, poked his head out from behind a black curtain and gave his teammate a thumbs-up.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Already poked, the league bear hasn’t exactly gone into hibernation, either.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of poked
Verb
  • The building was under construction on a busy commercial street in the Eastleigh area, which is often crowded with thousands of traders and residents.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Mythical beings hover over apocalyptic scenes crowded with tiny, ghostly figures, which seem to emerge from the paint.
    — Dan Stahl, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of crowded
Verb
  • By later in the day, the second lake had bulged — sparking fears of another lethal torrent.
    — Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
  • My husband Grant Wahl's bulged and burst, at an age when this disease usually means something inherited.
    — Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News, 13 July 2026
Definition of bulged
Verb
  • Las Vegas piled up 236 yards and scored four touchdowns after halftime, wasting the Jets’ season-high offensive output.
    — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • As the money piled up, the relationships between the company’s early team—including Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Jakub Pachocki, Mira Murati, and Dario and Daniela Amodei—began to fray.
    — Julia Black, Vanity Fair, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of piled
Verb
  • The Sea Ranch Lodge is just a small part of the much larger 7,000-acre Sea Ranch community, which has grown to encompass 2,224 homes clustered around a series of sunny meadows surrounded by stands of wind-breaking cypress.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Other Camino Nuevo campuses are clustered one to two and a half miles to the west.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of clustered

Browse Nearby Words

bunch
bunched
bunches
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Cite this Entry

“Bunched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bunched. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

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