Synonyms of pumping

pumping

verb

present participle of pump

1

as in bobbing

to make short up-and-down movements

the thighs of the bicyclists were pumping furiously as they neared the finish line

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bobbing
• shaking
• jerking
• swaying
• nodding
• jogging
• wagging
• seesawing
• rocking
• jouncing
• swinging
• ducking
• wiggling
• bobbling
• oscillating
• jiggling
• wobbling
• undulating
• dropping

2

as in interrogating

to put a series of questions to

prying neighbors pumped the guileless child for information about the family's new pool

Synonyms & Similar Words

• interrogating
• examining
• questioning
• grilling
• quizzing
• sweating
• querying
• catechizing
• picking the brains of
• giving the third degree to
• harassing
• debriefing
• pestering
• hounding
• annoying
• canvassing
• polling
• cross-examining
• cross-questioning

3

as in draining

to remove (liquid) gradually or completely

pumped water from the well

Synonyms & Similar Words

• draining
• sucking
• siphoning
• emptying
• tapping
• bleeding
• drawing (off)
• cleaning
• drafting
• evacuating
• milking
• flushing
• exhausting
• purging
• depleting
• clearing
• vacating
• voiding
• effusing
• vacuating
• decanting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• filling
• wetting
• washing
• soaking
• watering
• bathing
• drenching
• flooding
• dousing
• drowning
• overflowing
• inundating
• sousing
• swamping
• submerging
• deluging

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of pumping

The authors of this latest paper sought to capture the venom-pumping kinematics of honey bee stingers in order to identify the underlying biomechanics. — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 13 Oct. 2026

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund was still pumping cash — more than $5 billion and counting — into the LIV Golf League. — ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026

All four were out of their capsule within an hour, waving and pumping their fists in the air aboard SpaceX’s recovery ship. — Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026

And Tom Steyer didn’t advance to the general election in the California governor’s race despite pumping $216 million of his own money into the campaign. — Steven Sloan, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

There’s a scene at the end, where Frances celebrates something by pumping her fist. — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 6 Oct. 2026

Backside homer off a guy pumping a 100 with one fastball that goes up and one that goes down. — Chad Bishop, AJC.com, 29 Sep. 2026

That means early galaxies were already pumping metals into the cosmos. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Fluxnium’s system focuses on capturing those atoms without pumping seawater through a large processing facility. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 24 Sep. 2026