jab 1 of 2

as in punch
a quick thrust gave the jellyfish on the beach a cautious jab with my stick

Synonyms & Similar Words

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jab

2 of 2

verb

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 jab
Noun
Michelle accused Braxton of continuing to take subliminal jabs at her since their Love & Hip Hop days — even as recently as after Beyoncé sent her flowers. Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 16 June 2025 Musk later slipped in a jab, suggesting that Trump and the Republicans could never have prevailed in last year’s elections without the $288 million that Musk spent to put them over the top. Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2025
Verb
Glasner quite frequently does a sort of pointy thing, jabbing his finger at the south London air, when Crystal Palace score. Nick Miller, New York Times, 11 May 2025 Sun Sentinel Miss Manners: The way my wife stabs meat at the table has bothered me for 50 years Miss Manners: The way my wife jabs meat at the dinner table has bothered me for half a century. South Florida Sun Sentinel, Sun Sentinel, 16 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for jab
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jab
Noun
  • Pittsburgh now has arguably the best 1-2 punch at tight end in the NFL in Smith and Penn State alum Pat Friermuth.
    Michael Gallagher, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 June 2025
  • Vega opted to press, but landed constant clean punches and was unable to connect meaningful combinations that would turn the tide of the fight.
    Jad El Reda, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2025
Verb
  • In 2010, a kayaker in the Florida Keys had her lung punctured when a fish leapt out of the water and stabbed her in the back.
    Charlotte Phillipp, People.com, 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
  • Really, Lundell was sent off for sparking a post-horn mini-rumble with an extra poke at Skinner as time expired in the period.
    Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 10 June 2025
  • The new gloves were designed to reduce eye pokes and hand injuries, but fighters began to speak about issues with the new gloves.
    Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 15 Feb. 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
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
Verb
  • These kids would be walking around down the road and the F.B.I. would pick them up and take them down to the jail to be interrogated, then tell them to walk home.
    Nick Estes, New Yorker, 26 June 2025
  • Since its Sundance debut, the film has played many festivals, from Cannes to Independent Film Festival Boston, which picked Sorry, Baby as the capstone for this year’s edition of the fest.
    Andy Crump, Time, 26 June 2025
Verb
  • 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
  • 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

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Cite this Entry

“Jab.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jab. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.

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