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
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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
-
And then there’s some outings where there’s too much nibbling with the cutter, with the sweeper, as opposed to staying on the attack.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The man was later convicted of stabbing his girlfriend and is serving 15 years in prison for the attack.—
Gloria Casas,
Chicago Tribune,
8 May 2026
-
Preliminary information indicated the stabbing victim may have been mistaken for another person, police said.—
Harriet Ramos,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
There is nothing quite like the joy of picking fresh fruit from your own fruit tree.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
10 May 2026
-
Brooklyn is left picking through the best of the rest in a draft where the drop-off after the top four still feels like a cliff.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
10 May 2026
Verb
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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
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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
-
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
-
The tactic has become more popular with smugglers as police on the beaches try to thwart crossings by puncturing the rafts that groups of migrants have to inflate and carry to the water.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
One thing that tacticians noticed in the closing months of the war was how lighter, faster tanks were effective when used as offensive tools, piercing through enemy lines in order to flank enemy formations.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
1 May 2026
-
When used correctly, that power can be harnessed for good, heightening the citrus fruit’s bright, piercing notes to soaring new heights.—
Jesse Szewczyk,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
1 May 2026
Verb
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At one point, Davies can be seen sticking her head out of the open window and waving to park officials below.—
Natalia Senanayake,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
-
For most of her first two seasons, the league treated her like just another player, sticking her on the back of posters and leaving her out of promos.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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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
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This means that early galaxies were true star-forming machines, gobbling up gas and spitting out stars with a furious intensity.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pecking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pecking. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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