as in staring
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise
visitors seem mesmerized as they peer at the variety of marine life in the aquarium's huge tank
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of peering
This lavender cat-eye set is like peering into a misty garden.
—
Ariel Wodarcyk,
InStyle,
18 June 2026
Cinematographer Meteor Cheung doesn’t need to do much more than park his camera on a tripod and pan it side to side, occasionally looking down in alarm like a librarian peering over her glasses.
—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
This 82-minute true crime documentary focuses on the killing and its aftermath while also peering into the years leading up to Blanchard's demise.
—
James Mercadante,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 June 2026
Cruising thousands of feet above the ground, peering out of the airplane window at the world below, and pinpointing all of the green football, baseball and soccer fields sprawled below.
—
Shaun Goodwin
may 25,
Idaho Statesman,
25 May 2026
Qassem and Ali moved through every room, peering into corners, opening doors.
—
Rania Abouzeid,
New Yorker,
21 May 2026
Inside, the front desk is flanked by an animatronic dire wolf and a life-size acrylic woolly mammoth peering out from what appears to be a massive block of ice.
—
Alex Morris,
Rolling Stone,
19 May 2026
Basulto’s planes would typically fly a few miles apart over large quadrants of the Florida Straits, zigzagging over endless swaths of sea and peering down into the whitecaps for signs of life.
—
Rick Jervis,
USA Today,
18 May 2026
As grieving attendees lined up to pay respects to the children, one woman shut her eyes after peering at one of the children, Kayla, who wore a white dress, her fingernails carefully painted pink.
—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
10 May 2026
Ariel Wodarcyk,
InStyle,
18 June 2026
Cinematographer Meteor Cheung doesn’t need to do much more than park his camera on a tripod and pan it side to side, occasionally looking down in alarm like a librarian peering over her glasses.
—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
This 82-minute true crime documentary focuses on the killing and its aftermath while also peering into the years leading up to Blanchard's demise.
—
James Mercadante,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 June 2026
Cruising thousands of feet above the ground, peering out of the airplane window at the world below, and pinpointing all of the green football, baseball and soccer fields sprawled below.
—
Shaun Goodwin
may 25,
Idaho Statesman,
25 May 2026
Qassem and Ali moved through every room, peering into corners, opening doors.
—
Rania Abouzeid,
New Yorker,
21 May 2026
Inside, the front desk is flanked by an animatronic dire wolf and a life-size acrylic woolly mammoth peering out from what appears to be a massive block of ice.
—
Alex Morris,
Rolling Stone,
19 May 2026
Basulto’s planes would typically fly a few miles apart over large quadrants of the Florida Straits, zigzagging over endless swaths of sea and peering down into the whitecaps for signs of life.
—
Rick Jervis,
USA Today,
18 May 2026
As grieving attendees lined up to pay respects to the children, one woman shut her eyes after peering at one of the children, Kayla, who wore a white dress, her fingernails carefully painted pink.
—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
10 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peering
Verb
-
Beijing — When US and Israeli bombs first began falling on Iran at the end of February, China’s leaders were staring at the very real possibility of another friendly regime being decapitated, much like had happened with Venezuela only weeks before.
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Yesterday, Barack Obama stood in the nearly same spot, now as a former president, staring up at a monument in his name.
Verb
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Years after his dad’s reformation, Jonah sits on a bench at the Broncos’ practice facility in Dove Valley, gazing out at the green expanse of his future.
-
The self-reflexive qualities of the work go further, and the film can surely be read as a statement about the limits and possibilities of a totally analogue and backwards-gazing practice.
Verb
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Shoppers are gawking at their climbing receipts as food costs continue to climb.
-
This seemingly reflexive action of whipping out their phones while gawking and filming isn’t a novel occurrence.
Cite this Entry
“Peering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peering. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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