as in to lick
to strike repeatedly
pummeled the mugger with her fists until help arrived
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pummel
Rain pummeled my Ford Escape for most of the seven-hour drive from Columbus that late September evening in 2015.
—
Brad Ryan, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026
First baseman Christian Walker pummeled a home run after Álvarez, giving the Astros back-to-back first-inning jacks.
—Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 13 June 2026
With a pummelling rhythm and howling guitar, the new song from fata morgana makes a desperate race against the doom loop.
—Harry Tafoya, Pitchfork, 10 June 2026
Sidon, the largest city in southern Lebanon, had largely been spared from the Israeli strikes that have pummelled much of the country's south and east.
—Frank Andrews, CBS News, 10 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for pummel
Brad Ryan, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026
First baseman Christian Walker pummeled a home run after Álvarez, giving the Astros back-to-back first-inning jacks.
—Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 13 June 2026
With a pummelling rhythm and howling guitar, the new song from fata morgana makes a desperate race against the doom loop.
—Harry Tafoya, Pitchfork, 10 June 2026
Sidon, the largest city in southern Lebanon, had largely been spared from the Israeli strikes that have pummelled much of the country's south and east.
—Frank Andrews, CBS News, 10 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for pummel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pummel
Verb
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Post-surgery cone preventing you from licking your wound and other fun?—
Patricia Marx,
New Yorker,
11 June 2026
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Chalk it up to a bad match, and lick your wounds.—
Harriette Cole,
Mercury News,
11 June 2026
Verb
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Their complaint included chat logs that appear to indicate that ChatGPT advised him on suicide methods and how to hide evidence from previous attempts from his parents.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
11 Dec. 2025
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Signature shareable paellas and housemade sangria pitchers are must-tries across its three San Antonio locations—one of which hides the popular underground speakeasy, Cellar Mixology.—
Kat Stinson,
Travel + Leisure,
11 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Jim Cramer has been pounding the table on Apple’s latest flagship device since its September launch, touting the iPhone 17 series as a substantial value given trade-in values and carrier subsidies.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
9 Dec. 2025
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In fact, jobs are tight, especially for new college graduates, and ‘affordability’ is the cudgel that Democrats will use to pound Republicans until Election Day 2026.—
Kate Plummer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Collins easily beat former football coach Derek Dooley, according to unofficial election results.—
Tia Mitchell,
AJC.com,
17 June 2026
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The stance in 1966 let in North Korea, who famously beat Italy en route to the quarter-finals.—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
Verb
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The billionaire venture capitalist and Sun Microsystems cofounder lashed out on X at student protesters who walked out of Stanford’s 135th commencement ceremony while Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai was delivering the keynote address.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
15 June 2026
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Trump lashed out at Ossoff in his Truth Social post on June 14.—
Jay Stahl,
USA Today,
15 June 2026
Verb
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The late night host whipped out a photo for her reference.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
12 Dec. 2025
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The terrifying European monster carries a whipping stick instead of toys, and yet people seem to like him.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
10 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Police, familiar with unrest in the city, were on standby with cordons of armored cars, which were quickly pelted with projectiles by the rioters.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
9 June 2026
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Heavy rain pelting the barn’s roof could be heard throughout the interview.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
8 June 2026
Verb
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Rhodes then slapped Zayn across the face.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
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At least until the lake came back to more or less slap him in the face.—
Samantha Highfill,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pummel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pummel. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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