as in licking
to strike repeatedly
vowed to curry the hide of the person who stole his wallet
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of currying
For instance, between 1875 and 1885, one Gilded Age railroad company spent approximately $500,000 (equivalent to approximately $15 million today) currying the favor of government officials each year.
—
Daniel Weiner, Time, 9 Mar. 2026
The event was a surreal mashup of soccer and favor-currying.
—Scott Soshnick, Sportico.com, 9 Dec. 2025
Soon, companies learn that success depends less on innovation or competition than on currying political favor.
—Veronique De Rugy, Oc Register, 19 Sep. 2025
Daniel Weiner, Time, 9 Mar. 2026
The event was a surreal mashup of soccer and favor-currying.
—Scott Soshnick, Sportico.com, 9 Dec. 2025
Soon, companies learn that success depends less on innovation or competition than on currying political favor.
—Veronique De Rugy, Oc Register, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for currying
Verb
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The department shared photos of Ziggy, still wearing a bandage on his left hind leg, jumping up and licking Spring's face during a recent visit.—
Neal Riley,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
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Seals off The San Diego Seals (6-8) are off this weekend and licking their wounds following a crushing 9-8 home loss to Buffalo on Saturday.—
Ivan Carter,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The president of a labor union representing Transportation Security Administration employees is lashing out at lawmakers, telling them not to leave Washington, DC, for Easter recess before passing a deal to pay its agents amid the ongoing partial government shutdown.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
25 Mar. 2026
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How this showdown plays out will affect not only Anthropic’s booming business but also the way tech titans and other corporations work with an administration known for lashing out at resisters, said Alan Rozenshtein, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Under her tenure, the Department has lost centuries of professional experience, willfully violated federal law and judicial orders alike, while at the same time, hiding millions of documents linked to the Epstein files in a massive cover-up.—
Dan Mangan,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2026
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Grass lines in 8 to 15 feet of water make a perfect location for ambushing their prey and hiding from other predatory fish like muskies.—
Derek Horner,
Outdoor Life,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Like Apollo 13, Artemis II will take advantage of the moon’s and Earth’s gravity, making a figure 8 after whipping around the moon to head home in what’s known as a free-return trajectory requiring little if any fuel.—
Marcia Dunn,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Mar. 2026
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Like Apollo 13, Artemis II will take advantage of the moon and Earth’s gravity, making a figure eight after whipping around the moon to head home in what’s known as a free-return trajectory requiring little if any fuel.—
Marcia Dunn,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In doing so, a supreme intelligence began to emerge.—
Meghan Palmer,
Condé Nast Traveler,
29 Mar. 2026
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Instead, Hall put on late-night shows in the basement of his home and became a popular child magician, earning money by doing his routine at ritzy parties and travelling to magic conventions.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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That didn’t stop Uthmeier from chest-pounding across social-media platforms.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 Mar. 2026
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That is when Peralta started pounding the rookie inside.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The phony cops bound the two museum guards on duty and then moved leisurely through the museum, battering and slashing some of the world’s most recognizable art from walls and frames.—
Edmund H. Mahony,
Hartford Courant,
22 Mar. 2026
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Boxing scenes in movies, other than in a handful of classics, tend to start to look all the same, a mishmash of beads of sweat and blood and jowels distended, all fists flying and battering as two men catapult and careen across the ring.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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After beating Atlanta last Friday without Jaylen Brown and Charlotte on Sunday without Brown and Derrick White, Boston flopped in a rematch with the Hawks, losing 112-102 without a crew of contributors headlined by a resting Jayson Tatum.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
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Lawson’s Blue Devils relished their March Madness at the downtown arena on Friday night, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in the corner by Ashlon Jackson to stun storied LSU in a Sweet 16 contest.—
Joe Davidson,
Sacbee.com,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Currying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/currying. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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