as in pierces
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
stabbed the pesky leaf with the tines of the rake
Synonyms & Similar Words
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1
as in punctures
a mark or small hole made by a pointed instrument
the injection left a small stab on her upper arm
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of stabs
Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Sep. 2025
Spike takes one of Kelson's tranquilizer darts filled with morphine and stabs Samson in the arm with it.
—Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
After a dramatic confrontation among all parties, Jonah stabs Henry in the chest and shoots him point-blank in the head.
—Claire Franken, TVLine, 18 Sep. 2025
The video shows Zarutska sit in a seat in front of Brown, who fixates on her and after several minutes pulls out a knife and stabs her several times in the neck, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
—Danielle Battaglia, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2025
Harrison stabs Prater with the needle and knocks the billionaire out.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
The person then stabs it with a long knife.
—Claudia Lauer, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2025
Near the end of the video, the unseen cameraperson flips the notebook to a page containing a diagram of the church and stabs the diagram with a knife.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
After he's caught red-handed, the pilot goes to confront him when the captain stabs him before throwing him overboard.
—Esther Kang, People.com, 26 Dec. 2024
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Shorter sci-fi stabs meet surging upward flourishes which also link Believe stylistically to disco and Hi-NRG, associating the track with certain gay subcultural histories.
—Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 9 Aug. 2025
While never-ending rounds of press spread into the evening, Monsta X sets a tempo and refuses to waver, cracking jokes and hyping each other up while taking stabs at English.
—Abby Webster, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
Alex breaks free and, in a panic, repeatedly stabs Evelyn with the syringe.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Sep. 2025
Spike takes one of Kelson's tranquilizer darts filled with morphine and stabs Samson in the arm with it.
—Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
After a dramatic confrontation among all parties, Jonah stabs Henry in the chest and shoots him point-blank in the head.
—Claire Franken, TVLine, 18 Sep. 2025
The video shows Zarutska sit in a seat in front of Brown, who fixates on her and after several minutes pulls out a knife and stabs her several times in the neck, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
—Danielle Battaglia, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2025
Harrison stabs Prater with the needle and knocks the billionaire out.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
The person then stabs it with a long knife.
—Claudia Lauer, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2025
Near the end of the video, the unseen cameraperson flips the notebook to a page containing a diagram of the church and stabs the diagram with a knife.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
After he's caught red-handed, the pilot goes to confront him when the captain stabs him before throwing him overboard.
—Esther Kang, People.com, 26 Dec. 2024
Noun
That did actually happen, but Van Sant and screenwriter Austin Kolodny make some additional stabs at turning Fred into the spine of the picture, structuring the movie around his broadcasts — a filmmaking convention that doesn’t really bring anything new to this particular story.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Shorter sci-fi stabs meet surging upward flourishes which also link Believe stylistically to disco and Hi-NRG, associating the track with certain gay subcultural histories.
—Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 9 Aug. 2025
While never-ending rounds of press spread into the evening, Monsta X sets a tempo and refuses to waver, cracking jokes and hyping each other up while taking stabs at English.
—Abby Webster, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stabs
Verb
-
But the show's greatest asset is its stars, whose endearing real-life friendship pierces through the play’s inherent despair.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
29 Sep. 2025
-
When a leg pierces the surface, capillary forces cause the fan to spread open within milliseconds, creating a broad paddle.—
John Drake,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The onboard video from the Racing Bulls car reveals Lawson’s split-second oversteer snap correction played a big part in the collision that left both with punctures.—
Alex Kalinauckas,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Battery systems based on it are also potentially safer (less prone to thermal runaway, may handle punctures better).—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Nix, through three quarters, had completed only one of his eight pass attempts of 10 or more air yards, according to TruMedia.—
Nick Kosmider,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
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New data reported to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom shows that the majority of book censorship attempts are now originating from organized movements.—
Jennifer Borresen,
USA Today,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Srinivas, who often jabs the search engine giant, made an interesting point.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Haggard jabs Baird over mailers The race is already tense.—
Kayla Dwyer,
IndyStar,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Ridley Scott, a filmmaker not known for pulling his punches, has issued a withering assessment on the health of Hollywood output right now.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
6 Oct. 2025
-
The matches are pretty violent, with nasty punches to the face and vicious knees to the head.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Harper fouled off Snell’s fourth consecutive slider to bring the count to 1-2, then the lefty bounced a curveball before firing his fifth slider in six tries.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Hoskins’ latest attempt — his second of three potential tries — is now before Green, who will decide whether to approve the new language or order Hoskins to rewrite it.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Check out expert picks from our sister sites CNET, ZDNET, Mashable, and Lifehacker.—
Jade Chung-Lee,
PC Magazine,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Our top picks for outdoor dining sets include smaller sets that are perfect for just a few people, like this Christopher Knight Home 5-Piece Dining Set or the Hanover Montclair 5-Piece Outdoor Dining Set.—
Molly Blanco,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
These nation-wide country-goes-city celebrations of agricultural bounty, mechanical innovations and skilled handcrafts have been drawing crowds since the first fair was held in upstate New York in 1841.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stabs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stabs. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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