as in slap
a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument
delivered a quick spank to the child's bottom for disobedience
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spank
Noun
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Then that final line, where Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress, is just a slap to the senses.—
Yvonne Villarreal,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Jan. 2026 -
Yes, the Old Fashioned is typically a boozy, whiskey-forward, slap-you-across-the-face thing, and, yes, chamomile is typically a bedtime, steaming mug, snuggle-up-under-a-blanket thing.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
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After accepting a cross-ice pass from Ryan McDonagh, Kucherov smacked a one-timer from outside the right faceoff dot over Swayman’s glove, tying the score at 5-5.—
Fluto Shinzawa,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
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Imagine opening your freezer and smack dab in the middle, amid the bags of frozen spaghetti sauce and bananas, is something fuzzy looking.—
Cameron Beall,
Southern Living,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Director Ric Roman Waugh has a nice, gritty visual style and the fists and bullets land hard here, less stylish balletic and more thump thump.—
Mark Kennedy,
Boston Herald,
29 Jan. 2026
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In Guyana’s capital city of Georgetown, neighbors can still hear the thumps.—
Tyler Jett,
Des Moines Register,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Video of the sweet moment shows Rasa knocking on the door.—
Tony Dokoupil,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
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Trump, true to form, knocked Biden for skipping the Super Bowl Sunday platform.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Reigns flipped Gunther onto the edge of the ring and went for the knockout blow, but it was countered.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
1 Feb. 2026
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After being victimized by a pair of Bulls blow-bys in his initial stint, there was no additional stint, with Jovic instead moved up when Adebayo went out.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
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My ten-year-old granddaughter was marching and banging her little saucepan with a salad spoon.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
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Libby and director Tyne Rafaeli certainly do not miss an opportunity to bang that gavel.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Despite a disappointing launch back in 2016, the developers stuck with it and have crafted a wildly successful and long-running space sim that feels like a greatest hits montage of all the games that came before it.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
31 Jan. 2026
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Jacob in the kind of Shoresy and Letterkenny family, which were more cult hits, but did well.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The wind and waves whipped around us.—
Richard Greenberg,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
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According to initial police reports, the man sitting in the driver’s seat was pistol whipped and robbed of his wallet that contained cash and other personal items.—
Harry Harris,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Spank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spank. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
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