scourging

verb

present participle of scourge
1
as in ravaging
to bring destruction to (something) through violent action barbarians scourged the countryside, leaving village after village burned to the ground

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in whipping
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible scourge the tree with a whip to loosen the bark

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for scourging
  1. ravaging
  2. whipping
  3. destroying
  4. hiding
  5. devastating
  6. slashing
  7. lashing
  8. flogging
Verb
  • For weeks an autoimmune disease doctors couldn’t explain had been attacking his thyroid and ravaging his intestines.
    — Joe Manganiello, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Across the country, climate change is ravaging ecosystems, bringing more robust storms, rising sea levels, record-setting conflagrations and fatal heat waves.
    — Jennifer Oldham, Denver Post, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of ravaging
Verb
  • My opponent should be condemning political violence, not whipping it up.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • In whipping rain and wind in New Jersey, the New York Giants held on for a 12-7 win in their first game since quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending knee injury.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of whipping
Verb
  • Hurricane Isaias made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on Saturday, spawning tornadoes, destroying buildings and downing power lines across the Gulf region.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Israeli soldiers filmed themselves in high definition laughing, looting homes, destroying entire rows of buildings, humiliating civilians, even killing them.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of destroying
Verb
  • The third suspect acknowledged receiving the paintings at his home and hiding them behind a wall built beneath a staircase after the theft.
    — SYLVIE CORBET, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The series brings 10 strangers together in an institutional setting for seven days, with each person trying to guess the true occupations of the others while hiding their own identities.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of hiding
Verb
  • The region has already been saturated by heavy rain over the past months, and regions like New Mexico and Grand Canyon were hit by devastating floods earlier this month.
    — Megan Janetsky, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Military force has imposed enormous costs on both Hamas and Iran, devastating their military facilities and killing their commanders.
    — NADIA SCHADLOW, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of devastating
Verb
  • These next-generation systems aim to extract far more energy from uranium while slashing waste stockpiles.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Right now, Amazon has the TCL Nxtpaper 11 (Gen 2) on sale for 31% off, slashing $90 from its already affordable price.
    — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of slashing
Verb
  • These are just two of the many scenes of destruction the hurricane has left in Hawaii after lashing the state’s western islands with heavy rain, widespread flooding and tropical-storm-force winds on Monday and Tuesday.
    — Liz Kreutz, NBC news, 9 Sep. 2026
  • This week’s meeting of G20 finance ministers underscored rising global trade tensions, with several countries, including the US, lashing out at China.
    — Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of lashing
Verb
  • The Taliban bans filming in public areas where flogging as well as stoning takes place, but MA says that individuals who oppose the practice have been discretely filming these events, then posting the video.
    — Ruchi Kumar, NPR, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Rubin, who has built a business flogging sports merchandising and collectibles, is renowned for his annual White Party in the exclusive Hamptons, near New York City.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of flogging
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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scourges
scourging
scouring
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Cite this Entry

“Scourging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scourging. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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