pawing

Definition of pawingnext
present participle of paw

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pawing
Verb
  • In the end, an Australian photographer claimed the top prize for capturing a tender moment of elephant seal pups nuzzling in a rockpool.
    Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 27 Feb. 2026
  • The video shows his two pet dogs, with a mutt named Thunder in the lead, nuzzling open a sliding door to get outside into the yard.
    CBS News, CBS News, 10 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • One of the officers can be seen rubbing his eye toward the end of the video.
    ABC News, ABC News, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Avoid aggressively rubbing to protect fabric fibers.
    Caroline Lubinsky, Martha Stewart, 21 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • She was later reunited with her dog, stroking him in stunned silence before being taken to the hospital.
    Danielle Bacher, PEOPLE, 20 Jan. 2026
  • At one point Eliot entered the TV room and found Abby with her head on Claire’s lap, Claire stroking her hair.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • The basis of the important therapy stems from studies showing that holding and caressing an animal provides benefits such as relaxation, lower blood pressure, decreasing anxiety, and increasing positivity, according to the news release.
    Dawn Giangiulio, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Williams knows how to humanize this bare-bones vocabulary, minutely adjusting the voicing of a chord or caressing the last of a set of recurring motifs with a regretful ritardando.
    Alex Ross, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Artist Rafa Esparza, who had a painting on view showing men in cowboy hats dancing closely and kissing, called the content advisory censorship.
    Uwa Ede-Osifo, Dallas Morning News, 27 Feb. 2026
  • But what’s undeniable to anyone with two eyes is that Ellison, like so many corporate leaders, has been kissing up to Trump for more than a year — first to get control of Paramount and then in an attempt to make his company’s acquisition of Warners look inevitable.
    Josef Adalian, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Tuttle attended the screening of A Letter To David – The Complete Version and, following the conservative backlash this week, Shoval posted a picture of the festival director hugging him before the 2025 premiere.
    Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 26 Feb. 2026
  • The loafer is made with an arch-hugging insole that supports your foot’s natural alignment to keep foot fatigue away.
    Jasmine Gomez, Travel + Leisure, 26 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Small fixes prevent messes as information-gathering Mercury turns retrograde in your 6th House of Wellness, nudging you to refine routines and rest your body and mind.
    Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 26 Feb. 2026
  • Impassioned Mars in your sign sextiles vulnerable Chiron in your 3rd House of Correspondence, nudging you to assert your needs.
    Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 22 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • All seems normal with this new potential job until the woman conducting the interview subtly reveals bruises on her arms and, not so subtly, starts fingering her kitchen knives.
    Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Dec. 2025
  • Using a fingering yarn when a knitting pattern specifies DK means your garment will end up much too small.
    BestReviews, Mercury News, 23 Sep. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Pawing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pawing. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.

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