variants
also pummelled
as in pounded
to strike repeatedly
pummeled the mugger with her fists until help arrived
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Recent Examples of pummeled
An historic nor’easter pummeled the region on Monday — with one spot even breaking the snow record from the Blizzard of ’78 — as power crews work around the clock to try to restore electricity for hundreds of thousands.
—
Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 24 Feb. 2026
An off-duty NYPD cop was pummeled to the ground by a Brooklyn couple during an argument over them shoveling snow onto her property, officials said Tuesday.
—Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 24 Feb. 2026
Yet Ukrainian civilians have been pummeled by Russian air strikes over the years, spurring power outages and cuts to their water supply.
—Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 24 Feb. 2026
This celestial skew likely came from Uranus being pummeled by a huge planetary collision early in solar system history, and gives the ice giant strange seasons that span 42 Earth years.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 24 Feb. 2026
The borough was pummeled with up to two feet of snow in the historic blizzard.
—Aziza Shuler, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2026
Christopher Cann New Jersey extended travel restrictions as a monster snowstorm pummeled the state and much of the Northeast.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 23 Feb. 2026
Air travel came to a virtual standstill Tuesday across much of the Northeast as the region was pummeled by a winter storm with heavy snowfall and winds.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 23 Feb. 2026
As when Djokovic pummelled the ball into Sinner’s forehand in their Australian Open semifinal, his timing on that wing was this week susceptible to erring.
—James Hansen, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2026
Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 24 Feb. 2026
An off-duty NYPD cop was pummeled to the ground by a Brooklyn couple during an argument over them shoveling snow onto her property, officials said Tuesday.
—Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 24 Feb. 2026
Yet Ukrainian civilians have been pummeled by Russian air strikes over the years, spurring power outages and cuts to their water supply.
—Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 24 Feb. 2026
This celestial skew likely came from Uranus being pummeled by a huge planetary collision early in solar system history, and gives the ice giant strange seasons that span 42 Earth years.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 24 Feb. 2026
The borough was pummeled with up to two feet of snow in the historic blizzard.
—Aziza Shuler, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2026
Christopher Cann New Jersey extended travel restrictions as a monster snowstorm pummeled the state and much of the Northeast.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 23 Feb. 2026
Air travel came to a virtual standstill Tuesday across much of the Northeast as the region was pummeled by a winter storm with heavy snowfall and winds.
—Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 23 Feb. 2026
As when Djokovic pummelled the ball into Sinner’s forehand in their Australian Open semifinal, his timing on that wing was this week susceptible to erring.
—James Hansen, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pummeled
Verb
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Russian missiles and drones in recent months have pounded Ukraine’s energy grid, plunging people into frozen darkness in one of the country’s coldest winters on record.—
Justin Spike,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Sweat dripped, pulses pounded, and for a fleeting few hours, nothing beyond the walls of (SUB)MERCER seemed to matter, offering a rare escape no one seemed ready to let go of.—
Kelsey Stewart,
Vogue,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Though his injuries were severe, the sailors watched in wonder as the cat determinedly licked his wounds, then got back to work destroying the rats threatening the ship’s food stores.—
Anne Ewbank,
Popular Science,
18 Feb. 2026
-
Ghadimi licked her lips over and over.—
Babak Dehghanpisheh,
NBC news,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Cutrone previously lashed out at Jay Manuel for criticizing Banks on the Netflix project.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Feb. 2026
-
At least 25 Mexican National Guard troops were killed, Mexican authorities say, as supporters of the slain cartel boss took to the streets and lashed out in a spasm of violence that spread across the country.—
Foreign Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The merest departure from orthodoxy whipped its theologians into a lather.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
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Stuck in his backhand corner, Altmaier was on defense as Lajović whipped an inside-out forehand crosscourt.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Just five months later, Kipnuk was among several villages hit by disastrous storm surge and flooding when Typhoon Halong battered the remote Alaskan coast in October 2025.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
22 Feb. 2026
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The poster of the Big East regular-season championship trophy that sits on an easel courtside at UConn’s practice facility was battered, held together by a roll’s worth of clear packing tape at the start of the week.—
Joe Arruda,
Hartford Courant,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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During the Friday Redlands rally, there were a few tense minutes when a student in a MAGA hat was pelted by water bottles.—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Feb. 2026
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Levi Rolles, who attended multiple protests at ICE's facility in Broadview, Illinois, was pelted with projectiles.—
Natasha Korecki,
NBC news,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The ministry said settlers vandalized or attacked 45 mosques in the West Bank last year.—
AREF TUFAHA,
Arkansas Online,
24 Feb. 2026
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The violence captured on cellphone videos and shared around the globe – buses burning, gas stations attacked, military helicopters flying overhead – wasn’t just happening in remote rural towns long plagued by drug violence.—
Mary Beth Sheridan,
CNN Money,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The woman, who was on her cellphone, recalled being knocked to the ground and forced into the van.—
Sean Emery,
Oc Register,
24 Feb. 2026
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Reese knocked the ball loose from Sonia Citron in the closing seconds, a defensive play that would have sealed the comeback narrative.—
D’Joumbarey Moreau,
Miami Herald,
24 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pummeled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pummeled. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
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