targeting

Definition of targetingnext
present participle of target

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of targeting Taylor, a fluid 6-foot-5, is already the Jets’ second-best receiver and plays with a quarterback, Justin Fields, who is prone to targeting tight ends — fifth-highest tight end target rate since 2021, and Cole Kmet had a career-high 719 yards with Fields as his quarterback in 2023. Jacob Robinson, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for targeting
Verb
  • Student and faculty critics also accused the university of being too slow to respond to complaints about a rising star astrophysicist, Christian Ott, accused or harassing and discriminating against female graduate students as early as 2012.
    Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2026
  • While colectivo members were largely quiet immediately after Maduro’s abduction, some videos released on social media and news outlets have shown men believed to be colectivo members harassing reporters and people in the streets.
    Rebecca Hanson, The Conversation, 6 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Videos surfaced on social media showing Doncic taunting Schroder for turning down a four-year, $84 million contract with the Lakers in 2021.
    Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Her reasoning is frustrating, but understandable — her husband (Yao), now a vampire, is taunting her outside, and Remmick has threatened to kill her daughter back in town.
    Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Season 4 is not going to let up on tormenting Will, according to Ramon Rodriguez, the actor who plays him.
    Rodney Ho, AJC.com, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Stop tormenting the boy, says Helga.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Start with uncovered cups, then increase difficulty by baiting only some cups to encourage scent work.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
  • That’s a tall order after expanding a literary world once, but doing it twice without baiting catastrophe is exponentially harder.
    Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 8 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • The strengths that those same opponents will spend long hours trying to account for — Nix’s pestering speed, a relentless pass-rush that produced a franchise-record 68 sacks, including four of Lance — aren’t changing either.
    Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
  • No kid brother tagging along, pestering him with questions, pushing up on his social circle.
    Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 31 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • That thing’s been bugging on him for a while.
    Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 29 Dec. 2025
  • Then Julian dropped one of his wireless earbuds into Olympia’s purse, using it as a crude bugging device.
    Noel Murray, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • Eventually, Bournemouth were so sick of Sadiki’s hassling that substitute Lewis Cook jutted an elbow at him.
    Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • Viewers see painful flashbacks throughout the show of classmates teasing Kelly about being overweight and daring her to drink urine.
    Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 8 Jan. 2026
  • On Wednesday, Duff ramped up the anticipation for her new album, teasing a new song about dive bar hookups, inconvenient roommates, and a once-red-hot romance fizzling into the tombs of relationship graveyards.
    Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 7 Jan. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Targeting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/targeting. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.

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