as in to stab
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
she speared a pea with her fork and angrily flung it
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spear
Doc Louallen, ABC News, 14 Mar. 2025
Image Image Outside, a whiteboard listed who speared each sturgeon and their weights and lengths.
—Brian Kaiser, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2025
Ilona Limonta-Volkova, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025
Originally conceived as a way to demonstrate the program’s efficacy by putting its strongest athletes to the test, the Games represent the tip of the CrossFit spear.
—Calum Marsh, Rolling Stone, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for spear
Verb
Some vulnerable farmers, desperate to protect their livelihoods, retaliate by spearing the elephants.
—Doc Louallen, ABC News, 14 Mar. 2025
Image Image Outside, a whiteboard listed who speared each sturgeon and their weights and lengths.
—Brian Kaiser, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2025
Noun
Pricing transparency, proactive maintenance, and real-time updates are merely the tip of the spear.
—Ilona Limonta-Volkova, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025
Originally conceived as a way to demonstrate the program’s efficacy by putting its strongest athletes to the test, the Games represent the tip of the CrossFit spear.
—Calum Marsh, Rolling Stone, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for spear
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spear
Verb
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In 2010, a kayaker in the Florida Keys had her lung punctured when a fish leapt out of the water and stabbed her in the back.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
People.com,
30 June 2025
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One such fatwa was the one issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the previous supreme leader, against author Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed multiple times at the Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York in 2022.—
Somayeh Malekian,
ABC News,
30 June 2025
Noun
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Tristan Dion, javelin, Pine Crest junior: Beat out friend and senior teammate Sean Nagle’s school record in the javelin by throwing 47.88 meters at the 2A state meet and finished 10th; also played tennis and football for the Panthers.—
Gary Curreri,
Sun Sentinel,
20 June 2025
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The decathlon will be contested Wednesday, June 11 (100, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400), and Thursday, June 12 (110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, 1,500).—
Rachel Roberts,
Idaho Statesman,
10 June 2025
Verb
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She was found on the ground near the lifeguard stand with an umbrella stake that had pierced the front of her left shoulder and was sticking out the back of her arm by about 1 foot, Asbury Park Fire Chief Kevin Keddy told ABC News.—
Emily Shapiro,
ABC News,
25 June 2025
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The scepter pierced the ground of the Huanacaure mountain, and so rose the glimmering empire of Cuzco.—
Ana Karina Zatarain,
New Yorker,
21 June 2025
Noun
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Flame-retardant foams do little, and fire departments now favor high-pressure water lances or immersion pits.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
9 June 2025
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With about a thousand Mexicans in front of him, Yell charged alone with his sword in hand, apparently killing several Mexicans until brought down by multiple lance wounds.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
3 May 2025
Verb
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At his best, Towns shoots like an archer, drives to the hoop like a rugby bruiser, and glides on his pivot foot, one smooth semicircle after another, like a grade-school protractor with its point puncturing the paper.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
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The dura can be damaged from head injuries or punctured during surgical procedures involving the sinuses, brain or spine, such as lumbar puncture, epidurals, spinal anesthesia or myelogram.—
Danielle Wilhour,
The Conversation,
28 May 2025
Verb
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Nearly 150 people were jabbed with syringes during a street music festival in France, the country’s interior ministry said, adding that authorities had arrested at least 12 suspects.—
Astha Rajvanshi,
NBC news,
24 June 2025
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The sequence was designed to mimic a human yawn, but one could be forgiven for thinking the fleshy android had just been unpleasantly jabbed with something sharp.—
Mack DeGeurin,
Popular Science,
5 June 2025
Verb
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Since its Sundance debut, the film has played many festivals, from Cannes to Independent Film Festival Boston, which picked Sorry, Baby as the capstone for this year’s edition of the fest.—
Andy Crump,
Time,
26 June 2025
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Premium frozen fruit, picked and frozen at peak ripeness, is often better than fresh fruit.—
Carolynn Carreño,
Los Angeles Times,
26 June 2025
Verb
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Resist the urge to stick exclusively with people from the same background who all see the world the same way.—
Robert E. Siegel,
CNBC,
26 June 2025
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Courts can’t stick their heads in the sand to an obvious way that a new technology might severely harm the incentive to create, just because the issue has not come up before.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spear.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spear. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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