as in to stab
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
she deftly harpooned a shrimp with her skewer and held it over the fire
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 harpoon
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Feb. 2025
With a microscope, these setae look like harpoons, and they’re filled with cocktails of venom proteins that are to scientists like Walker what light is to moths.
—Ivan Amato, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
After trying to convince the disgruntled clerk to take it off his hands, the monkey bangs its drum, causing a harpoon gun on display to impale the clerk and rip out his entrails.
—Jack Dunn, Variety, 4 Mar. 2025
The harpoon gun shot was entirely real.
—Jack Dunn, Variety, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harpoon
Verb
Someone is then shot with a harpoon, only to have their guts pulled like taffy from the wound.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Feb. 2025
With a microscope, these setae look like harpoons, and they’re filled with cocktails of venom proteins that are to scientists like Walker what light is to moths.
—Ivan Amato, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
After trying to convince the disgruntled clerk to take it off his hands, the monkey bangs its drum, causing a harpoon gun on display to impale the clerk and rip out his entrails.
—Jack Dunn, Variety, 4 Mar. 2025
The harpoon gun shot was entirely real.
—Jack Dunn, Variety, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harpoon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harpoon
Verb
-
Police are investigating after three people were stabbed at a beach in New London on Sunday.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
30 June 2025
-
One such fatwa was the one issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the previous supreme leader, against author Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed multiple times at the Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York in 2022.—
Somayeh Malekian,
ABC News,
30 June 2025
Noun
-
With Robert Lewandowski out injured, a front trident of Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Lamine failed to make an impact as Barca on the whole seemed exhausted.—
Tom Sanderson,
Forbes.com,
26 Apr. 2025
-
At present, Rodrygo lines up in an attacking trident with Vinicius Jr. and Mbappe.—
Tom Sanderson,
Forbes,
10 Sep. 2024
Verb
-
She was found on the ground near the lifeguard stand with an umbrella stake that had pierced the front of her left shoulder and was sticking out the back of her arm by about 1 foot, Asbury Park Fire Chief Kevin Keddy told ABC News.—
Emily Shapiro,
ABC News,
25 June 2025
-
The scepter pierced the ground of the Huanacaure mountain, and so rose the glimmering empire of Cuzco.—
Ana Karina Zatarain,
New Yorker,
21 June 2025
Noun
-
Pricing transparency, proactive maintenance, and real-time updates are merely the tip of the spear.—
Ilona Limonta-Volkova,
Forbes.com,
15 June 2025
-
Originally conceived as a way to demonstrate the program’s efficacy by putting its strongest athletes to the test, the Games represent the tip of the CrossFit spear.—
Calum Marsh,
Rolling Stone,
14 June 2025
Verb
-
At his best, Towns shoots like an archer, drives to the hoop like a rugby bruiser, and glides on his pivot foot, one smooth semicircle after another, like a grade-school protractor with its point puncturing the paper.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
-
The dura can be damaged from head injuries or punctured during surgical procedures involving the sinuses, brain or spine, such as lumbar puncture, epidurals, spinal anesthesia or myelogram.—
Danielle Wilhour,
The Conversation,
28 May 2025
Noun
-
During different events, the guards will add white gloves, a black helmet and/or the halberd.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2025
-
The retainer then struck her down with a halberd, set the mansion ablaze, and committed seppuku.—
Nicholas Liu,
Vulture,
17 Apr. 2024
Verb
-
Nearly 150 people were jabbed with syringes during a street music festival in France, the country’s interior ministry said, adding that authorities had arrested at least 12 suspects.—
Astha Rajvanshi,
NBC news,
24 June 2025
-
The sequence was designed to mimic a human yawn, but one could be forgiven for thinking the fleshy android had just been unpleasantly jabbed with something sharp.—
Mack DeGeurin,
Popular Science,
5 June 2025
Verb
-
Resist the urge to stick exclusively with people from the same background who all see the world the same way.—
Robert E. Siegel,
CNBC,
26 June 2025
-
Courts can’t stick their heads in the sand to an obvious way that a new technology might severely harm the incentive to create, just because the issue has not come up before.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harpoon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harpoon. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share