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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stabbing
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
the bird continued to peck the suet cake intently
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 pecking
The siblings have been caught pecking and pushing each other during a feeding session.
—
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 8 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
Except for a few children kicking a ball and some chickens pecking the ground, the village seemed almost deserted.
—Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 5 Nov. 2025
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 8 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
Except for a few children kicking a ball and some chickens pecking the ground, the village seemed almost deserted.
—Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 5 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pecking
Verb
-
In October 2025, a TikTok user posted a video of a gray squirrel nibbling on the mouth end of a vape device in Philadelphia.—
Ryan Brennan,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Their livestock wander about us, enormous antlers swinging, hooves clicking — the sound helps them to find each other in a blizzard — and occasionally nibbling lichen from Aatsinki’s outstretched hand.—
Liam Denning,
Bloomberg,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Cadets in the video described stabbing him with their pocketknives during a desperate struggle for the gun.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC news,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Officers learned that an altercation ended with two men allegedly assaulting another man with a baseball bat and then stabbing him in the head.—
Patrick Damp,
CBS News,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Israel has been hunting him and his comrades, picking them off by airstrike and drone, in surprise attacks that often kill civilians alongside them.—
Lauren Frayer,
NPR,
12 Apr. 2026
-
For a bouquet of two dozen daffodils each week of daffodil season, Shickasheen offers picking passes at $35 per person.—
Catherine Messier,
The Providence Journal,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
For a piece in this week’s issue, Dhruv Khullar, a practicing physician and a contributing writer, investigated this growing industry, speaking to the doctors who are tinkering with compounds and the users gamely jabbing themselves in a quest for self-optimization.—
Hannah Jocelyn,
New Yorker,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Where their debut roars, jabbing with hooks, Two Wheels Move the Soul instead inverts the noise until the sound becomes pillowy and comforting.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Iranian strikes on the city now appear to be puncturing the cycle, putting pressure on residential and commercial property prices — and on the people whose jobs depend on them.—
Manal Albarakati,
semafor.com,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Wi-Fi 7's puncturing capability is designed to isolate the interference, enabling devices to use the remainder of the channel.—
Iyaz Akhtar,
PC Magazine,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Harden, 36, with his famous, protruding beard and those dark, piercing eyes, was determined to use his star power to get his way, to bring with him a slice of comfort to a new city.—
Joe Vardon,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
-
With one quick push of a button, BLINGSTING Safety Alarms ear-piercing 125-decibel personal alarm sounds, intended to startle an aggressor and immediately alert bystanders that there’s a problem.—
Tory Johnson,
ABC News,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Her birthday cake sits on the bed next to her, a piece removed, the knife sticking in the side like a murder weapon.—
Tony Bravo,
San Francisco Chronicle,
3 Apr. 2026
-
But some people were referring to the movie internally as Pizza Movie, and that was sticking.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The words feel heavy and unnatural when O'Neal repeats them back to the doctor, like trying to blow a bubble and spitting out rocks instead.—
Courtney Crowder,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Anna Frenza wakes up suddenly, suffocating from smoke and spitting ash.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pecking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pecking. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
