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
Tourists and scientists want to know On Thursday, three tractors spent more than an hour raking the beach at South Pointe Park in Miami Beach as beachgoers weaved around them, stepping over thick piles of sargassum that turned the shoreline water a murky brown.
—
Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 9 May 2026
Prepare the planting bed by removing weeds and raking the soil even.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 4 May 2026
Protect the Seed Stockman recommends raking the seeds into the lawn to ensure that there is ample seed-to-soil contact.
—Lee Wallender, The Spruce, 30 Apr. 2026
Domínguez, meanwhile, has been raking at Triple-A since missing the cut for the Yankees’ Opening Day roster.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026
Pau Torres’s raking pass intended for Leon Bailey fell short.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
Iranian speed boats raking ships with machine-gun fire in the Strait of Hormuz.
—Jon Gambrell, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026
The good news for Samsung is that while the MX division struggles, its semiconductor division is raking it in.
—ArsTechnica, 24 Apr. 2026
Between raking leaves, aerating your lawn, adding grass seed, and more, fall is one of the busiest and most important seasons for maintaining your yard.
—Carly Totten, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Oct. 2024
Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 9 May 2026
Prepare the planting bed by removing weeds and raking the soil even.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 4 May 2026
Protect the Seed Stockman recommends raking the seeds into the lawn to ensure that there is ample seed-to-soil contact.
—Lee Wallender, The Spruce, 30 Apr. 2026
Domínguez, meanwhile, has been raking at Triple-A since missing the cut for the Yankees’ Opening Day roster.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026
Pau Torres’s raking pass intended for Leon Bailey fell short.
—Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
Iranian speed boats raking ships with machine-gun fire in the Strait of Hormuz.
—Jon Gambrell, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026
The good news for Samsung is that while the MX division struggles, its semiconductor division is raking it in.
—ArsTechnica, 24 Apr. 2026
Between raking leaves, aerating your lawn, adding grass seed, and more, fall is one of the busiest and most important seasons for maintaining your yard.
—Carly Totten, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for raking
Verb
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The United States, searching for self-definition but loath to lose its illusions—its innocence—needed all of this as a counterpoint.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
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The real estate online search giant, which offers both purchase and rental listings, looked at who was searching for a new place in February.—
Jonathan Lansner,
Oc Register,
4 May 2026
Verb
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Aerial footage showed officers with guns drawn, combing the campus grounds.—
Julie Sharp,
CBS News,
30 Apr. 2026
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The day after a man opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, authorities are combing through a message sent by the shooting suspect, seeking to understand what allegedly led him from his life as a respected California teacher to a would-be assassin.—
Alayna Treene,
CNN Money,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Then the Solar System Dynamics Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory analyzes the objects that will come closest to Earth, using infrared-scanning telescopes such as NEOWISE to estimate the size of asteroids, especially darker ones that are difficult to see in the visible spectrum.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
10 May 2026
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Post-cycling analysis to evaluate condition The researchers also performed post-cycling analysis after 50 cycles, using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to evaluate the condition of the electrodes.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
9 May 2026
Verb
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This is about finding a better balance.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2026
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The amount of debris caused the delay in finding the second body.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Raking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/raking. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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