sucker punching

verb

present participle of sucker punch
as in knocking down

Related Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sucker punching
  1. knocking down
  2. pushing
  3. dumping
  4. stabbing
  5. kicking
  6. slashing
  7. flailing
  8. switching
Verb
  • Winds gusted up to 80 miles per hour, bowing palm trees and knocking down power lines that sparked the fires.
    — Angus Chen, STAT, 22 July 2026
  • The pair of earthquakes struck on June 24, knocking down buildings, sending residents fleeing for safety and trapping some survivors under the rubble for days.
    — Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 8 July 2026
Definition of knocking down
Verb
  • Ali Tager, an NCA vice president, said on the On The Margin podcast that about a third of small and mid-sized businesses already accept crypto, and that their own customers are pushing.
    — Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Now, Hortman and two of his children are pushing to stop Blanche from formally taking on the role of the country's top cop.
    — Conor Wight, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of pushing
Verb
  • The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has been growing since 2011, dumping an increasing amount of seaweed along coastlines in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 31 July 2026
  • Gale-force winds were hampering aircraft from dumping water on the flames.
    — Mark Carlson, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026
Definition of dumping
Verb
  • Brennan was previously convicted of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon after stabbing her 76-year-old mother to death with a butcher knife in Hollywood in 2014, according to a probable cause affidavit.
    — Shira Moolten, Sun Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Sanders admitted to stabbing her sons to death in February 2018.
    — Mike Toole, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of stabbing
Verb
  • Freese inexplicably kicking the grass instead of the ball is not on him.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026
  • Nightingale says that if life has been kicking you around, don’t give up because sometimes the comeback can be even better than the dream.
    — Rob Wolkenbrod, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of kicking
Verb
  • The Post underwent a round of severe layoffs earlier this year, slashing a third of its workforce, ending its books coverage, and slimming down its metro and international staffs, among other cuts.
    — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 31 July 2026
  • Amazon just put a variety of MacBooks on sale, slashing up to $500 off the most expensive MacBook Pro configurations.
    — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 29 July 2026
Definition of slashing
Verb
  • So kudos to the extras who steal scenes from them in the background, flailing like avant-garde dancers when a vicious mental parasite leaps from grandmothers to joggers to security guards on a quest to find something awful.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
  • Flushed and flailing during Schauf’s final countdown, her gum-chewing getting a little more exaggerated with each second, Cooper quipped that her handiwork might be better sealed under a closed casket.
    — John Semley, Harpers Magazine, 28 July 2026
Definition of flailing
Verb
  • And while there’s fun to be had with the premise of the three characters constantly and accidentally switching places — most often in the middle of a space fight) — the meandering script unfortunately tries to do too much.
    — EW Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Training camp for the Kansas City Chiefs began on July 29, and even with the program only days in, the 36-year-old tight end felt like switching up his appearance with changes to his facial hair.
    — Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of switching
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.

Browse Nearby Words

sucker punches
sucker punching
suckers
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Cite this Entry

“Sucker punching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sucker%20punching. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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