as in slaps
a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument
the impatient toddler got a swat on his wrist for stepping into the street by himself
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in smacks
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
didn't sleep a wink all night because she was too busy swatting mosquitoes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of swats
Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025
Thumps sound, and his arm disappears as someone swats it down.
—Sahana Jayaraman, AZCentral.com, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for swats
Verb
And when Melbourne still attempts to challenge the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Wilson swats it away with ease.
—Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025
Thumps sound, and his arm disappears as someone swats it down.
—Sahana Jayaraman, AZCentral.com, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for swats
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swats
Noun
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In this world, items are paid for by receiving slaps to the face.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
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Europe has long underspent on defense, and where American cajoling for decades had not worked, a few face slaps succeeded.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Squad' rep's felon husband smacks phone from reporter 3.—
,
FOXNews.com,
7 Jan. 2026
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Just as this monster is about to take out the entire team on the Abyss, a giant boulder flies through the air and smacks him in the face.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
1 Jan. 2026
Noun
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During two recent wintry swipes in North Georgia, drivers largely abided by the directive to keep off the roads.—
Doug Turnbull,
AJC.com,
15 Feb. 2026
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Altman and other senior executives took to social media to respond to swipes from Anthropic, which ran Super Bowl ads that poked fun at OpenAI's decision to run ads within ChatGPT.—
Ashley Capoot,Kate Rooney,
CNBC,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Her child’s classmates now discuss what to do if ICE knocks on their door.—
Anna Moeslein,
Glamour,
7 Feb. 2026
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Before the Michigan game, the main knocks against Fears were his penchant for trash talk on the court and his ability to pester opponents and draw fouls on them.—
Joe Rexrode,
New York Times,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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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The firefall is a natural phenomenon that occurs when the setting sunlight perfectly hits Horsetail Fall, a waterfall on El Capitan, turning the falls into a brilliant cascade of liquid fire.—
Owen Clarke,
Outside,
18 Feb. 2026
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Some schools in northern Minnesota have announced closures and delays on Wednesday as a winter storm hits the area.—
Anthony Bettin,
CBS News,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
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After ensuring the donor area is properly numbed, the medical team will remove individual hair grafts one by one with tiny punches.—
Ethan Stone,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
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Through punches and pummeling, cheating and cursing, their bond remained (mostly) intact.—
Jillian Sederholm,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The incident comes as a powerful winter storm slams California, dumping heavy snow and bringing high winds across the Sierra Nevada.—
Stephen Sorace,
FOXNews.com,
18 Feb. 2026
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Winter storm slams the East While Arizona's system is mostly a light-rain and mountain-snow setup, a sprawling winter storm is creating far bigger problems across the eastern half of the country.—
Hayleigh Evans,
AZCentral.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Swats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swats. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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