butting

verb

present participle of butt
as in bumping

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for butting
  1. bumping
  2. pushing
  3. kicking
  4. shoving
  5. poking
  6. jabbing
  7. jostling
  8. prodding
Verb
  • Against this stripped down but still bumping backdrop, Christmas and Crack’s loose, witty braggadocio shines.
    — Brendan Hay, SPIN, 24 Aug. 2026
  • In June, Luna hopped clumsily from one branch to another, bumping Sandy off her perch and sending her to a branch below.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of bumping
Verb
  • The intense interest in the case is one reason why her lawyers are pushing for a retrial – the town was so crowded that at one stage jury members shared a hotel with the prosecution team and an informant.
    — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
  • After the demise of SB 10, lawmakers were tepid on pushing any cash bail reforms until a ruling in 2021 known as the Humphrey ruling.
    — Evelyn Ronan, Sacbee.com, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of pushing
Verb
  • The camera, which panned back and forth in the MGM Grand, showed a group of people beating and kicking someone on the ground.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • The La Jolla 18-year-old who admitted to kicking a sea lion faces a year in jail and $100,000 fine.
    — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of kicking
Verb
  • The video, which continues to be shared online despite being deleted from the brand's channels, showed Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark shoving member Alexis Miestowski to the turf.
    — Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Cole Sheridan, an Oak Park man, was accused of shoving Border Control Cmdr.
    — Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of shoving
Verb
  • Most of what’s actionable comes from the signal that might be poking through.
    — Ben Gretch, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • In the shade of a dense forest canopy, Odette Kouakou paces through her grove of cocoa trees, snapping off dead leaves and poking the ripe yellow pods hanging down from the branches with a stick.
    — Colette Davidson, Christian Science Monitor, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of poking
Verb
  • That’s partly the result of actions by Curtis, like taking customer’s phone calls and jabbing at a competitor on social media.
    — Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026
  • The show ushered in a new era of winking, elbow-jabbing meta-musicals.
    — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 26 June 2026
Definition of jabbing
Verb
  • Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young are jostling for second place, while movement is possible throughout the top 10.
    — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
  • There is not only jostling between films, but also between co-production countries and companies.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of jostling
Verb
  • But economic and political pressures, both domestic and international, have been prodding policymakers to rethink the path and the pace of getting there.
    — Ned Temko, Christian Science Monitor, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The White House also couldn’t resist prodding Swift when the singer married Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden, unleashing a series of memes on the day of the wedding in July.
    — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of prodding
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.

Browse Nearby Words

butt in
butting
butting heads
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Butting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/butting. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of southpaw

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 28

Why do we say 'break a leg'?
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All