1
as in pushing
to apply force to (someone or something) so that it moves in front of one
I had to keep shoving my heavy suitcase as I slowly made my way to the head of the line
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in pressing
to push steadily against with some force
quit shoving your hand in my face
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of shoving
Neither is pushing, shoving or throwing people from the pool deck.
—
Hali Smith
june 2, Idaho Statesman, 2 June 2026
And Patrick Paul gave up a sack to Josh Uche during the final 11-on-11 period and shoving ensued.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 2 June 2026
Let the market decide if more public transit is desired rather than shoving it down the taxpayer’s throat.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 30 May 2026
Video shows immigration authorities shoving a woman through a line of masked and armed guards and threatening to deploy pepper spray as protesters shouted at the agents.
—Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
The next day she is shipped off to her first job, also within the confines of this impossibly vast building, which involves shoving film canisters down a pneumatic tube.
—Literary Hub, 15 May 2026
Since last week, a video has been circulating online of a worker at a McDonald's in Southbridge shoving a handful of fries in her mouth before placing them into one of the fast food chain's red fry containers, according to NBC Boston and Boston 25 News.
—Latoya Gayle, PEOPLE, 12 May 2026
Burke can be seen walking quickly behind Falzone, then shoving him down the steps, according to police.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 9 May 2026
The Israeli military also opened an investigation into a soldier photographed shoving a cigarette into the mouth of the statue of the Virgin Mary, which was apparently photographed several weeks ago.
—Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
Hali Smith
june 2, Idaho Statesman, 2 June 2026
And Patrick Paul gave up a sack to Josh Uche during the final 11-on-11 period and shoving ensued.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 2 June 2026
Let the market decide if more public transit is desired rather than shoving it down the taxpayer’s throat.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 30 May 2026
Video shows immigration authorities shoving a woman through a line of masked and armed guards and threatening to deploy pepper spray as protesters shouted at the agents.
—Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
The next day she is shipped off to her first job, also within the confines of this impossibly vast building, which involves shoving film canisters down a pneumatic tube.
—Literary Hub, 15 May 2026
Since last week, a video has been circulating online of a worker at a McDonald's in Southbridge shoving a handful of fries in her mouth before placing them into one of the fast food chain's red fry containers, according to NBC Boston and Boston 25 News.
—Latoya Gayle, PEOPLE, 12 May 2026
Burke can be seen walking quickly behind Falzone, then shoving him down the steps, according to police.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 9 May 2026
The Israeli military also opened an investigation into a soldier photographed shoving a cigarette into the mouth of the statue of the Virgin Mary, which was apparently photographed several weeks ago.
—Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoving
Verb
-
White portrayed it as the natural result of two highly competitive personalities pushing each other.—
Alejandro Avila,
FOXNews.com,
2 June 2026
-
While training large models requires mass amounts of parallel math — excellent work for a GPU — accessing that data and pushing it out to multiple agents requires more general compute offered by a CPU.—
Katie Tarasov,
CNBC,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
The DoD response prompted an immediate follow-up letter from the senators pressing Hegseth to explain the failure.—
Mayra Rodriguez Valladares,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2026
-
The subject quickly changed, and Counsell moved on to other pressing issues before a third interruption was necessary.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
30 May 2026
Verb
-
That’s when Angotti got going, driving a ball over the left-center-field fence.—
Kevin J. Farmer,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 May 2026
-
These reforms stripped the dominant Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of its historical control of the regional government, driving it into active opposition.—
Nimi Princewill,
CNN Money,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
The technology can help with due diligence and integration, compressing what was once a long process into one that customers might not notice.—
Megan Poinski,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
-
In the new Hubble image, some of the gas on the outer edge of M88 can be seen compressing and piling up.—
Adam Kovac,
Scientific American,
30 May 2026
Verb
-
Four 2,400 kW electric motors (two each per hull) are coupled with steerable and thrusting waterjets with an output power above 25 kn.—
Srishti Gupta,
Interesting Engineering,
31 May 2026
-
The painting, surrounded by scaffolding while the church undergoes repairs, is full of thrusting diagonals and shadowy figures, a meditation on both extreme suffering and pointed indifference to it.—
Sebastian Smee,
The Atlantic,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shoving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoving. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
