as in searching
to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something
he raked repeatedly through his luggage, hoping that in one of the bags he would find his lost passport before his flight's departure
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Recent Examples of raking
Matt McLain added muscle, is now raking On the one hand, McLain adding a dozen pounds of muscle in the offseason seems like an unambiguously positive development.
—
Andy Behrens, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Allow the surface to dry then prepare the seed bed by raking the soil smooth.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 5 Mar. 2026
Chris Cerveny, co-founder of Just Good Soil, recommends holding off on raking your leaves immediately.
—Tessa Cooper, The Spruce, 25 Feb. 2026
Fleischer recommends waiting until a snowstorm has ended before raking the roof and to never use a ladder in the snow.
—Christina Cush, Architectural Digest, 20 Feb. 2026
Just ask DePaul-area resident Janice Hughes, who claims she was rear-ended by a Coco robot while raking the parkway in front of her home.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
In a newspaper clipping more than 50 years old, a photo shows two little girls in Ceres raking a huge pile of mulberry leaves.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 19 Jan. 2026
Burrow, who spoke with media after the Bengals lost 18-20 to the Cleveland Browns, seemed bothered by his 'do from the start, sitting down at the mic and instantly raking his lengthy bangs back with his hands.
—Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 5 Jan. 2026
Penny became a right-wing cause célèbre, raking millions of dollars in donations toward his legal defense.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 3 Dec. 2024
Andy Behrens, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Allow the surface to dry then prepare the seed bed by raking the soil smooth.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 5 Mar. 2026
Chris Cerveny, co-founder of Just Good Soil, recommends holding off on raking your leaves immediately.
—Tessa Cooper, The Spruce, 25 Feb. 2026
Fleischer recommends waiting until a snowstorm has ended before raking the roof and to never use a ladder in the snow.
—Christina Cush, Architectural Digest, 20 Feb. 2026
Just ask DePaul-area resident Janice Hughes, who claims she was rear-ended by a Coco robot while raking the parkway in front of her home.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
In a newspaper clipping more than 50 years old, a photo shows two little girls in Ceres raking a huge pile of mulberry leaves.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 19 Jan. 2026
Burrow, who spoke with media after the Bengals lost 18-20 to the Cleveland Browns, seemed bothered by his 'do from the start, sitting down at the mic and instantly raking his lengthy bangs back with his hands.
—Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 5 Jan. 2026
Penny became a right-wing cause célèbre, raking millions of dollars in donations toward his legal defense.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 3 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for raking
Verb
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LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are still searching for their three-man chemistry.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
-
The center will continue its mission of caring for native birds and wildlife, officials said, and begin searching for a new executive director.—
Laylan Connelly,
Oc Register,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In Kharkiv, in Ukraine's northeast, emergency workers were combing the rubble, looking for survivors.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Mar. 2026
-
In Kharkiv, in Ukraine's northeast, emergency workers were combing the rubble, looking for survivors.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Similar large-scale digitization efforts—such as the openVertebrate Project, led by the Florida Museum of Natural History’s Blackburn, which involved scanning thousands of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians—have begun transforming how biologists study anatomy.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
5 Mar. 2026
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Gillespie said the bill would require machines capable of digitally scanning ballots while preserving copies that could be reviewed later if questions arise about the vote count.—
Zachary Bynum,
CBS News,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Throughout the fourth quarter, the Spartans (32-7) kept finding open players with near-perfect execution on offense.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Mar. 2026
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Back home, the men had experienced difficulties finding farming jobs—or any jobs at all.—
Boyce Upholt,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Raking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/raking. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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