as in speaking (to or with)
to communicate with by means of spoken words
I had never talked to a real live cowboy before
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in scolding
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of talking-to
Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 16 Jan. 2025
Roberts pulled the reliever in, gave him what seemed like a fatherly talking-to, and – after Ramirez got out of the inning with the very next pitch – noted that sometimes the best course is not to yell and scream at a player.
—Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 30 May 2024
Verb
Never underestimate the combined powers of a Liv Benson talking-to and a New York slice.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 16 Jan. 2025
Roberts pulled the reliever in, gave him what seemed like a fatherly talking-to, and – after Ramirez got out of the inning with the very next pitch – noted that sometimes the best course is not to yell and scream at a player.
—Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 30 May 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for talking-to
Noun
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The New York City mayoral candidate laughed at Goldberg's playful scolding.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Oct. 2025
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The scolding came after Combs seemingly nodded at jurors during Bongolan’s testimony about the balcony incident.—
Jessica Schladebeck,
New York Daily News,
7 June 2025
Noun
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The festival also aims to raise awareness about climate change through a lecture series and activist events.—
Evie Carrick,
Travel + Leisure,
23 Oct. 2025
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The Climate Café lecture series is a free public program designed to share cutting-edge science with the South Florida community.—
Diana Udel,
Miami Herald,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Some of Borseth’s priorities if elected will include ensuring school security and safety, addressing chronic absenteeism and ending off-cycle, odd-year school board elections.—
Talia McWright,
Twin Cities,
19 Oct. 2025
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The goal is to partner with the festival to create a dedicated AZ On the Rise stage, addressing what this coalition feels is a lack of sufficient homegrown representation at the three-day festival.—
Ed Masley,
AZCentral.com,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The new system combines lessons from these programs into a lighter, more flexible package suited for mobile formations.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Oct. 2025
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In a time when the country feels almost irreparably broken along its partisan fissures, and political comedy has become a minefield for controversy, Wood is looking to bridge the gaps in his own way, and maybe leave behind a few lessons of his own for others to pick up.—
Nikki McCann Ramirez,
Rolling Stone,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Earlier this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sat in the Oval Office and endured a brutal dressing-down.—
Tom Nagorski,
Time,
16 Oct. 2025
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Lamb doesn’t think River even deserves a dressing-down.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Hence, taking them away is an appropriate punishment.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
25 Oct. 2025
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But if the thought of freezing cold isolation and bunk pods sounds more like punishment than adventure, Mongolia’s Gobi already offers glimpses of the otherworldly in a far more comfortable setting.—
Rosanna Philpott,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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That admonishment could easily dissuade American women from treating a symptom that could endanger their child.—
Lisa Jarvis,
Mercury News,
25 Sep. 2025
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Officials who accept anything that is not somehow related to city business are breaking the law and face consequences ranging from an admonishment to criminal prosecution.—
M.L. Elrick,
Freep.com,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Spider-y lash extensions protruded from her lash line, reaching to the bottom of her brows; a thin wing of black liner was drawn from the outer corners of her eyes.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
22 Oct. 2025
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Charlotte Tilbury only just launched at Amazon, but this best-selling liquid highlighter is already marked down, as is this Lancôme mascara that defines, volumizes, and lengthens lashes in one fell swoop.—
Clara McMahon,
PEOPLE,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Talking-to.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/talking-to. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
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