as in fumbled
to search for something blindly or uncertainly
take a minute to fish for some change to drop in the donation box
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Recent Examples of fished
The island’s lure dates back centuries, to the earliest days of the Chitimacha tribe, who fished in its Gulf waters.
—
Kristy Christiansen, Southern Living, 31 Dec. 2025
Schreiber stopped in front of the large, dirty door that was held together with metal strips, fished in his pockets for a key, and turned it twice in the lock.
—Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
And those are the waters that generally the charter boats fished in close waters.
—Dan Morrison, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
That means, on average, about 930 people fished the river every single day of the year.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 30 Oct. 2025
Listening to Jimmy tell stories about Tennessee Williams, Hemingway’s writing, Captain Tony’s, Shel Silverstein, the characters who lived, fished, dreamed and smuggled there, time dissolved and the mythic Key West came to life.
—Alex Ross, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
These included the Montaukett, Shinnecock, and Matinecock people, who had lived in semi-permanent villages and hunted, fished, and farmed on the island for centuries.
—JSTOR Daily, 18 Oct. 2025
Seeton last month fished the North Fork of the Poudre on the Forest Service land his company made accessible.
—Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 13 Oct. 2025
And in the early 1980s, Indiana finally found the cash to begin its own project in the form of the Nongame Wildlife Fund, which was money earmarked for the conservation of wildlife not typically hunted or fished.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
Kristy Christiansen, Southern Living, 31 Dec. 2025
Schreiber stopped in front of the large, dirty door that was held together with metal strips, fished in his pockets for a key, and turned it twice in the lock.
—Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
And those are the waters that generally the charter boats fished in close waters.
—Dan Morrison, USA Today, 7 Nov. 2025
That means, on average, about 930 people fished the river every single day of the year.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 30 Oct. 2025
Listening to Jimmy tell stories about Tennessee Williams, Hemingway’s writing, Captain Tony’s, Shel Silverstein, the characters who lived, fished, dreamed and smuggled there, time dissolved and the mythic Key West came to life.
—Alex Ross, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
These included the Montaukett, Shinnecock, and Matinecock people, who had lived in semi-permanent villages and hunted, fished, and farmed on the island for centuries.
—JSTOR Daily, 18 Oct. 2025
Seeton last month fished the North Fork of the Poudre on the Forest Service land his company made accessible.
—Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 13 Oct. 2025
And in the early 1980s, Indiana finally found the cash to begin its own project in the form of the Nongame Wildlife Fund, which was money earmarked for the conservation of wildlife not typically hunted or fished.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fished
Verb
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Ball security The Hurricanes have fumbled the ball four times in the past two games and lost two of them — one apiece by Malachi Toney (first round against Texas A&M) and Fletcher (quarterfinal against Ohio State).—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
7 Jan. 2026
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Kennedy fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his phone, the source of the noise.—
Meredith Kile,
PEOPLE,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Ehrlich compared the situation to the labor upheaval professional leagues went through before finally settling on collective bargaining, which has been looked at as a potential solution by some in college sports over the past year.—
ANDREW DESTIN,
Arkansas Online,
10 Jan. 2026
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In the wake of the AT&T news, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson released a statement projecting optimism about Dallas’ future, as city leaders looked to move forward from the loss.—
Sasha Richie,
Dallas Morning News,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Pedro lifted the cloth when the water reached a boil and the kitchen filled with fragrant vapor.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Jan. 2026
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The overarching theme is fraud that has reached estimates of $9 billion, according to federal prosecutors.—
Makenzi Henderson,
Twin Cities,
16 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fished. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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