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
  • The Minutemen went on a 14-4 run powered by Wembley as the sophomore forward scored eight of his 15 points during the stretch, including knocking down a corner 3-pointer to give UMass a 14-6 lead.
    — Greg Dudek, Boston Herald, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Last week, Ukraine ran out of Patriot interceptors – one of the few defensive weapons capable of knocking down a ballistic missile – leaving it far more vulnerable to Russian attacks.
    — Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of knocking down
Verb
  • But the seismic shift in the balance of power is pushing events to unfold before the actual takeover takes place.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Writing Ring of Night wound up pushing its author in an entirely new direction.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of pushing
Verb
  • Stocks rebounded to end a turbulent election week, which saw investors dumping companies tied to the artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out after Democrats flipped the House and Senate and some key gubernatorial seats.
    — Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 6 Nov. 2026
  • On the way out, here's Charley Hull dumping out some SI Swimsuit content from a boat in Ibiza.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of dumping
Verb
  • The Baltimore Police Department says Abubakarr Barrie, 23, is accused of stabbing a 15-year-old girl inside a home.
    — Kelsie Cairns, FOXNews.com, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Hank Sanders/Daily Southtown Paula Larson speaks to media May 6, 2024, about charges brought in the 1966 stabbing death of her mother, Karen Snider.
    — Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of stabbing
Verb
  • Many of them only began kicking American footballs within the last couple of years, inspired by Charlie Smyth, who made 12 field goals for the New Orleans Saints in 2025.
    — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The Giants were the only ones that didn’t lose after kicking two extra points after touchdowns to force overtime in a 27-27 tie against Washington in Week 5.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of kicking
Verb
  • Medicare could soon save beneficiaries over a billion dollars on prescription drugs — without slashing the price of a single medicine.
    — Ted Okon, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Republican Scott Walker won that year, and over the next eight years enacted a wide array of Republican priorities that included drastically scaling back union rights, slashing taxes and requiring voters to show identification at the polls.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of slashing
Verb
  • Akio Kon | Bloomberg | Getty Images As Intel comes off its steepest stock drop since the 1970s due to a worsening outlook for the PC market, the chipmaker is facing intensifying pressure to get its flailing foundry business off the ground.
    — Katie Tarasov, CNBC, 2 Nov. 2026
  • All of that would be bad enough if the Mamdani administration at least had a plan for turning around our flailing public school system.
    — Ciara Jackson, New York Daily News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of flailing
Verb
  • Silicon carbide is widely used in applications such as electric vehicle inverters, while gallium nitride supports compact, fast-switching power converters.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The machine features solid performance for both work and play, and switching it between laptop and tablet modes couldn't be easier.
    — Marshall Honorof, PC Magazine, 7 Nov. 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 11 Nov. 2026.

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