as in trotting
to go at a pace faster than a walk
the child scampered off to play
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Recent Examples of scampering
Maye knocked out the Broncos by scampering all alone to his left on a third-down naked bootleg, Josh McDaniels’ best play-call on a day of bad weather and good defense.
—
Andrew Callahan, Hartford Courant, 26 Jan. 2026
In the second half, there was a carbon copy of the same move, when Leno again aimed straight down the middle of the pitch to Wilson, with substitute Jorrel Hato scampering back to avoid further embarrassment.
—Tom Burrows, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
In comparison, trackways offer a direct snapshot of an ancient moment in time — in this case, when scores of scampering theropods crisscrossed a shoreline.
—Mindy Weisberger, CNN Money, 5 Dec. 2025
In a surveillance video of the facility released to local media, detainees could be seen shackled and scampering into a building.
—Rick Jervis, USA Today, 22 Nov. 2025
Three plays later, Balko called his own number yet again, scampering into the end zone from 24 yards out and putting Eastlake ahead 21-17.
—Clark Fahrenthold, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Nov. 2025
The man who appeared to attack Lang was seen scampering back across Michigan Avenue after hitting him.
—Niraj Warikoo, Freep.com, 19 Nov. 2025
The enduring moment of the game is probably the deep touchdown pass between Shough and Chris Olave — the one that saw Olave shrugging off cornerback Jaycee Horn and then scampering into the end zone, then jumping into a Panthers field-side fan section.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 9 Nov. 2025
The video shows the small dog scampering around excitedly before letting out the squeaky, first-ever vocalization.
—Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
Andrew Callahan, Hartford Courant, 26 Jan. 2026
In the second half, there was a carbon copy of the same move, when Leno again aimed straight down the middle of the pitch to Wilson, with substitute Jorrel Hato scampering back to avoid further embarrassment.
—Tom Burrows, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
In comparison, trackways offer a direct snapshot of an ancient moment in time — in this case, when scores of scampering theropods crisscrossed a shoreline.
—Mindy Weisberger, CNN Money, 5 Dec. 2025
In a surveillance video of the facility released to local media, detainees could be seen shackled and scampering into a building.
—Rick Jervis, USA Today, 22 Nov. 2025
Three plays later, Balko called his own number yet again, scampering into the end zone from 24 yards out and putting Eastlake ahead 21-17.
—Clark Fahrenthold, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Nov. 2025
The man who appeared to attack Lang was seen scampering back across Michigan Avenue after hitting him.
—Niraj Warikoo, Freep.com, 19 Nov. 2025
The enduring moment of the game is probably the deep touchdown pass between Shough and Chris Olave — the one that saw Olave shrugging off cornerback Jaycee Horn and then scampering into the end zone, then jumping into a Panthers field-side fan section.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 9 Nov. 2025
The video shows the small dog scampering around excitedly before letting out the squeaky, first-ever vocalization.
—Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scampering
Verb
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The area is so nationally notorious that the Border Patrol chose it to stage an invasion here in July, complete with a literal cavalry of agents trotting down a soccer field where kids usually play while National Guard troops sat inside armored Humvees on Wilshire Boulevard.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
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Starring Evan Peters, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Pope, Anthony Ramos and Ashton Kutcher, The Beauty explores the secret, privileged and dark realms of vanity and perfection-seeking within a globe-trotting crime thriller backdrop.—
Jeff Conway,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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With a dust and waterproof rating of IP57, the earbuds can also shrug off moisture and sweat, whether jogging in the rain or enduring a punishing workout.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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But commenters were also fascinated by a series of colorful graphs plotting dose-response curves for individual types of exercise, purporting to show that walking is the best, jogging is good but not too much, swimming is no good at all, and so on.—
Alex Hutchinson,
Outside,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Columbus blanked the Blackhawks on their two power-play chances, running their string of futility to 26 man-advantages and 10 games without a goal.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
31 Jan. 2026
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On January 30, the 38-year-old pop star was photographed running an errand in a classic white t-shirt and baggy blue jeans, unbothered by the way her relaxed denim pooled around her thin flip-flops.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Meza Gonzalez and David Christian, one of her attorneys, refused to answer questions from reporters about the plea agreement, hurrying down a flight of stairs at the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center.—
Megan Rodriguez,
San Antonio Express-News,
27 Jan. 2026
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But one weekend in November, people who would typically be hurrying by, staring down at their phones, stopped.—
The Editors,
Curbed,
15 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scampering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scampering. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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