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skunking

verb

present participle of skunk
1
as in overcoming
to defeat by a large margin we ended up skunking them, as our goalie was able to prevent the other team from scoring a single goal

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in defeating
to achieve a victory over our football team consistently skunks our traditional rivals Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in cheating
to rob by the use of trickery or threats unwilling to let suppliers skunk him, the restaurant owner inspected every shipment before signing off on it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for skunking
  1. overcoming
  2. defeating
  3. cheating
  4. whipping
  5. mastering
  6. stinging
  7. bombing
  8. beating
Verb
  • This design continually reflects the laser inside the stream via total internal reflection, overcoming the need for focal-point or Rayleigh-length adjustments.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Augusto, Marrero, Hernández and countless others have little choice but to figure things out which, in Cuban parlance, means overcoming whatever obstacle is placed in their way.
    — Juan Carlos López, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of overcoming
Verb
  • Top Plays from Jets @ Titans To an outside observer, what happened Sunday afternoon — a team with low expectations defeating a Tennessee Titans team with even lower expectations — might not seem all that meaningful.
    — Zack Rosenblatt, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • The Kangaroos accomplished that goal, defeating Paschal 31-18 and entering district competition on a positive note.
    — Gavin Vieck, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of defeating
Verb
  • Written and rendered by dudes who longed for unlimited success, these are songs about cheating and being cheated on and trying but failing to be content, or love as lived amid capitalist indulgence.
    — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 30 Aug. 2026
  • In this case, the reward was solving the ExploitGym questions and the hacking was literally hacking—cheating on the test and then hacking into Hugging Face in an effort to cover up the cheating (more on that below).
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of cheating
Verb
  • Goalkeeper Emi Martinez floated a ball over Ezri Konsa to Rogers, who exchanged passes with Joao Pedro before shifting sharply onto his right foot and whipping a shot just wide of David Raya’s far post.
    — Liam Twomey, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Stand mixers are the best choice for things like kneading bread dough, whipping egg whites and mixing cookies, but blenders are best for breaking down more substantial foods to create beautifully smooth purees.
    — BestReviews, Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of whipping
Verb
  • There’s a specific, nuanced skill in mastering someone else’s tone.
    — Marissa Brassfield, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Essential, too, is the productive friction generated by grappling with and then mastering new knowledge.
    — Dónal Gill, The Dial, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of mastering
Verb
  • Some baby hummingbirds disguise themselves as caterpillars with stinging hairs to avoid predators, while octopus, squid, and cuttlefish use camouflage to blend in with their surroundings and hide.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 10 Sep. 2026
  • How to prevent wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets Proactive maintenance can keep stinging insects from setting up home on your property.
    — Nick Perry, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of stinging
Verb
  • Interviewees describe hacking little girls’ phones to see when their fathers came home and then bombing their houses, listening while the people on the line screamed and pleaded for help, while mothers cried over their burning daughters.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026
  • In 1991, during the Gulf War, America and its allies began bombing Baghdad in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
    — David Friend, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of bombing
Verb
  • Data from the firm shows that, from 1991 through 2025, firms trading at more than 20 times earnings have a mixed track record at delivering inflation-beating returns over the subsequent 10 years.
    — Ryan Ermey, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026
  • And amazingly, though perhaps not surprisingly, Zverev has been able to collect those two trophies without beating either Alcaraz or Sinner all year.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of beating
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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skunked
skunking
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Cite this Entry

“Skunking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skunking. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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