as in to pick at
to subject (someone) to constant scoldings and sharp reminders
kept pecking at their prodigal daughter to get off the couch and to start looking for a job
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peck (at)
Verb
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Better with a Buddy — Adopt one cat, kitten or dog and get the second one (within a year) for $25.—
Ut Community Press,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Jan. 2026 -
Enjoy off-slope winter activities, from snowmobiling to dog sledding.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Jake needles Harry about the past 50 years, but Harry can only offer scraps of history.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
13 Jan. 2026
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But there are other factors that needled their way into the evolutionary development of dormancy characteristics.—
Paul Cappiello,
Louisville Courier Journal,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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As a kid in Rochester, New York, Kane begged his parents for a dollar to play.—
Anna Rahmanan,
thehustle.co,
9 Jan. 2026
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While eating at the restaurant with her parents, Black begged for her own tasty drink and the bartender whipped one up, naming it after her.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The Small Property Owners Association of Massachusetts issued a statement Wednesday calling Wu’s tax shift proposal bad policy, and urged the Senate to approve the alternative tax relief bills and amendments proposed by Collins and Brownsberger.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
14 Jan. 2026
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In 2024, during her presidential campaign, Harris urged Congress to pass a bill that would have curtailed investors from buying large numbers of single-family rental homes.—
Garrett Downs,
CNBC,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In 2025, Leavitt was nagged by a foot injury that eventually required season-ending surgery.—
Bruce Feldman,
New York Times,
9 Jan. 2026
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One friend fully dives in to the dissociative spirit of the event, while the other is more cautious, nagged by the feeling that something might not quite be right.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Take a seat on an icy throne—the cold never bothered you anyway.—
Ginger Crichton,
Midwest Living,
9 Jan. 2026
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Don’t bother wasting your money—using it more than once a day won’t yield ‘better’ or faster results.—
Ali Pantony,
Glamour,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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While Edgecombe is hounding Brunson on one end, Tyrese Maxey’s got 1,200 square feet of real estate at Madison Square Garden on the other.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
4 Jan. 2026
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Legal issues hound the New England Scofflaws, with WR Stefon Diggs and DT Christian Barmore both ensnared over domestic issues.—
Greg Cote
January 1,
Miami Herald,
1 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Peck (at).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peck%20%28at%29. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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