1
as in nibbling
to eat reluctantly and in small bites
found out that fashion models never really eat—they just peck at small meals in expensive restaurants
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2
as in stabbing
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
the bird continued to peck the suet cake intently
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Recent Examples of pecking
The siblings have been caught pecking and pushing each other during a feeding session.
—
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2026
Choose cloth that is dense enough to prevent the birds from pecking for seeds.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 2 Apr. 2026
The scene is right out of the 1950s with students pecking away at manual typewriters, the machines dinging at the end of each line.
—Jocelyn Gecker, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
Our guy is just pecking away at his little typewriter or writing his memories in longhand.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
The lead stretched to 12 early in the third quarter, but slowly and painfully for Parker, the hosts, with Archer attacking the glass, kept pecking away.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026
Still, Lamb said lovebirds, like other parrots, can sometimes be violent with each other, screaming and pecking one another with beaks powerful enough to crack open seeds.
—ABC News, 13 Feb. 2026
The canine doesn't react in fear; the pup leans farther over the edge of the boat to get a closer look at the sizable creatures, almost pecking the whales on their massive mouths.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 19 Jan. 2026
By the time a new museum renovation has hatched, a successor is already pecking through its shell.
—Jackson Arn, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2026
Choose cloth that is dense enough to prevent the birds from pecking for seeds.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 2 Apr. 2026
The scene is right out of the 1950s with students pecking away at manual typewriters, the machines dinging at the end of each line.
—Jocelyn Gecker, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
Our guy is just pecking away at his little typewriter or writing his memories in longhand.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
The lead stretched to 12 early in the third quarter, but slowly and painfully for Parker, the hosts, with Archer attacking the glass, kept pecking away.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026
Still, Lamb said lovebirds, like other parrots, can sometimes be violent with each other, screaming and pecking one another with beaks powerful enough to crack open seeds.
—ABC News, 13 Feb. 2026
The canine doesn't react in fear; the pup leans farther over the edge of the boat to get a closer look at the sizable creatures, almost pecking the whales on their massive mouths.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 19 Jan. 2026
By the time a new museum renovation has hatched, a successor is already pecking through its shell.
—Jackson Arn, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pecking
Verb
-
The strong aroma of onions repels many garden pests and can keep deer and rabbits from nibbling on your bell peppers.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
10 May 2026
-
Sip the famous Pseudo Sue IPA, or sample exploratory and seasonal beers while nibbling on pub favorites like cheese curds.—
Sarah Miller,
Midwest Living,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Authorities were hunting for three days for the suspect after a gruesome late-night stabbing murder on Sunday in a laundry room in the Nordheim Court apartments.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
14 May 2026
-
An Alhambra man faces a possible 24-year prison sentence for fatally stabbing a 17-year-old boy waiting for his mother and for trying to kill a man, both in El Sereno, three years ago.—
Ruby Gonzales,
Daily News,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
This is as important, and as boring, in theory, as picking a fund for your 401(k), yet, improbably, the draft has become one of the largest events on the sporting calendar.—
Dan Greene,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
So picking the right actors was very important for me.—
Joshua Rothkopf,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
Verb
-
The president has kept up his criticism of Leo, jabbing the pope in a May 4 interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on the eve of Rubio’s visit.—
Francesca Chambers,
USA Today,
6 May 2026
-
In the 10 months since, Colbert has not held back, regularly jabbing his network, its new owners’ cozy relationship with the president and reports that his show was hemorrhaging $40 million a year.—
Lacey Rose,
HollywoodReporter,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
Shloime Rand, 34, was stabbed in the chest outside a synagogue, puncturing his lung, and Norman Shine, 76, who was wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap, was stabbed in the neck at a bus stop.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
-
In Famesick, Dunham says Driver would habitually yell on set, once even throwing a chair against the wall next to her and puncturing the wall of his trailer with a fist.—
Anna Zucca,
Vanity Fair,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Thawing ice along a riverbank, the shallows capturing the reflection of one of the grandchildren; the burning flame of a wick disappearing into a birthday cake; the deep, dark tunnel of a fleeting set of train tracks, as piercing as the endless blue eyes of the toddler in the diptych beside it.—
Casey Cep,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
-
This tank, more than any of its Allied counterparts, sent German designers back to the drawing board to produce the next generation of tanks that featured heavier armor and higher-velocity cannons with greater range and armor-piercing capability.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
So the Patriots as an organization have to realize this scarlet letter is sticking right now.—
Armando Salguero OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
11 May 2026
-
Their thinking was that numerous landing attempts would allow companies to wring out their technology and improve their chances of sticking the next landing.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
My mother spitting cherry pips with me and my sister.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
-
Windows Vista and its early WDDM woes had reduced my previously badass main PC with two Nvidia 7900GT cards in SLI to a stuttering BSOD-spitting mess, and the future of Microsoft OSes looked bleak—Windows 7 wouldn’t be along to change the situation for years.—
Lee Hutchinson,
ArsTechnica,
6 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pecking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pecking. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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