as in hopping
to play and run about happily
carefree kids laughing and frisking about in their backyard
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Recent Examples of frisking
When the 12-year-old girl gets out of the car still holding her phone, the officer immediately starts frisking her.
—
Carol Thompson, CBS News, 22 Jan. 2026
Four dolphins appear to be frisking in the shallows at that location.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2016
Carol Thompson, CBS News, 22 Jan. 2026
Four dolphins appear to be frisking in the shallows at that location.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frisking
Verb
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In May 2023, residents in the central city of Erfurt were jolted by the sight of a kangaroo hopping across a busy road after escaping from a private property.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
14 Mar. 2026
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There is perhaps no sport that is more in thrall to the dictates of orthodoxy than baseball, which is so steeped in tradition that a visit to the ballpark is often a bit like hopping into a time machine.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The result was a reunion that finally provided (mostly) satisfying questions and answers about participants’ pasts and presents instead of dancing around topics.—
Maira Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2026
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For instance, Jen’s DWTS partner, Jan, is a great guy, but Zac doesn’t like seeing his wife dancing at Disneyland with another man.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In the second half, Smith had a handful of incredible saves to keep the score at 2-1, including leaping up to snare a crossing pass and stopping two shots on breakaways.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
15 Mar. 2026
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Most fish in Moynaq’s bazaar—centered around a fountain of golden carp leaping from a dried-up well—now come from farms.—
Michael Snyder,
Saveur,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The untitled track comes with a serotonin-providing video of a person—perhaps the Norwegian singer/composer herself—skipping down a road carrying a baby, with a brief cameo from a similarly cheerful dog.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
13 Mar. 2026
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Russian artists are also staging a comeback at the Venice Biennale in May after skipping two previous editions.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Okay, so the cow immediately finds its baby, and then there is a BABY COW gamboling in a field.—
Alice Burton,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2026
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Know Them By Their Fruits, for example, shows people and animals gamboling among fruit trees, and The Bermuda Triangle of Nacogdoches shows planes crashing into the ocean, in front of a plat of the landlocked town.—
Benjamin Lima
Special Contributor,
Dallas Morning News,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Gabriel Martinelli was next on the scene, then Jurrien Timber, who was followed by a jubilant William Saliba, cavorting like a hyperactive toddler.—
James McNicholas,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
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Just a few weeks earlier, Miguel Angel Garcia Medina, 31, had been cavorting with his four children at their Arlington, Texas, home, meeting his 8-year-old daughter for lunch at school and giddily planning the arrival of their fifth child.—
Rick Jervis,
USA Today,
22 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Yes, the interstellar comet that made plenty of headlines in 2025 is still romping through our solar system.—
Eric Lagatta,
AZCentral.com,
26 Feb. 2026
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As a bonus, we’re rewarded with-sexy guys romping about in and out of form-fitting leather chaps and then in and out of tight wrestling tights.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Families frolicking in this Holidome surely had no idea about the mission of these nine tall gentlemen who trouped in and out.—
Bill Hancock,
Kansas City Star,
12 Mar. 2026
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Its alabaster beaches are perfect for shelling, sunset strolls, or spotting dolphins frolicking in the surf, while nearby mangroves and estuaries teem with even more wildlife.—
Carrie Honaker,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Frisking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frisking. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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