as in bumping
to come into usually forceful contact with something
the snowball thudded against the side of my car
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Recent Examples of thudding
The mantra is set against the kind of thudding club beat that defined the earliest phases of her career.
—
Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 2 May 2026
Footwork clatter and thudding 808s exude yearning emotion on the young producer-songwriter’s patchworked new track.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 13 Mar. 2026
Each must traverse more than a mile-and-a-half of terrain, through a canyon, into shadows and out, over rolls that hurl the body half a football field through the air before thudding it back down again.
—Barry Svrluga, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2026
The latest version kicks off with a moody set piece before a gun shot and thudding drums make way for a beat that sounds like a drowning beeper.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
The early-career excitement Spielberg generated with Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind came to a thudding halt with the frenetically busy, hopelessly bloated war comedy, 1941.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 20 Nov. 2025
Here’s where the treadmill picks up and our steps start thudding on the track.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
In 2016, when Bad Bunny first emerged, he was identified with a style known as Latin trap, a woozy and thudding hybrid that owes something to American hip-hop.
—Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2025
That naturalistic, lo-fi approach might play just fine were Maxine not saddled with a heavy, thudding cancer arc.
—Richard Lawson, IndieWire, 7 Sep. 2025
Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 2 May 2026
Footwork clatter and thudding 808s exude yearning emotion on the young producer-songwriter’s patchworked new track.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 13 Mar. 2026
Each must traverse more than a mile-and-a-half of terrain, through a canyon, into shadows and out, over rolls that hurl the body half a football field through the air before thudding it back down again.
—Barry Svrluga, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2026
The latest version kicks off with a moody set piece before a gun shot and thudding drums make way for a beat that sounds like a drowning beeper.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
The early-career excitement Spielberg generated with Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind came to a thudding halt with the frenetically busy, hopelessly bloated war comedy, 1941.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 20 Nov. 2025
Here’s where the treadmill picks up and our steps start thudding on the track.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
In 2016, when Bad Bunny first emerged, he was identified with a style known as Latin trap, a woozy and thudding hybrid that owes something to American hip-hop.
—Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2025
That naturalistic, lo-fi approach might play just fine were Maxine not saddled with a heavy, thudding cancer arc.
—Richard Lawson, IndieWire, 7 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thudding
Verb
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To alleviate all that blockiness and bulk, the architects chiseled it like a block of marble, shaving here, notching there, bumping out, and pulling in to give it interest in the round.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
4 June 2026
-
The first day that Sterling arrived, there was music bumping out of a makeup tent on the soundstage.—
Carita Rizzo,
Deadline,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe beating and banging all the way to the checkers.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
1 June 2026
-
The new transmission responded more quickly and reduced involuntary head banging in the car’s cabin.—
Will Sabel Courtney,
Robb Report,
28 May 2026
Verb
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Over the past two months, Paul has accused Mortensen in court of stalking and, on one occasion, slamming her head into the dashboard of his truck.—
Luke Chinman,
PEOPLE,
1 June 2026
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Jacob got back into the match by slamming Reigns into a post.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
Rapid growth across parts of Northern Colorado is colliding with a growing challenge — being able to access enough electricity to support new homes and businesses.—
Dillon Thomas,
CBS News,
2 June 2026
-
Massive pay packages like Arora’s are also colliding with a rash of populist proposals seeking to tax the rich and address a growing affordability crisis.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
2 June 2026
Verb
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Video shows a gang of Pokémon card thieves smashing display cases at a New Jersey hobby store and filling a trash bag with thousands of dollars worth of collectibles, according to police.—
Nick Caloway,
CBS News,
4 June 2026
-
In 2016, voters were asked to choose between a populist candidate dogged by questions about his integrity, judgment, decency, civility, empathy, and respect for everyone from complete strangers to his own wife, and an overqualified, glass-ceiling-smashing woman.—
Shannon A. Mullen,
The Atlantic,
4 June 2026
Verb
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The magic carpet ride of a season that included a Western League co-championship and a playoff run through the Loser’s Bracket that culminated in a CIF San Diego Section Open Division championship came to a crashing end Tuesday for the Patrick Henry High School baseball team.—
John Maffei,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 June 2026
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Surveillance video from Echo Brickell shows a car speeding down Brickell Avenue early Saturday morning and crashing into a tree just feet away from a group of people walking on the sidewalk.—
Anna McAllister,
CBS News,
3 June 2026
Verb
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Even 6 inches of moving water can pose a serious risk of knocking you off your feet.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
29 May 2026
-
Sounds like big savings knocking on your doorstep.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
28 May 2026
Verb
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Steven Schwally was convicted of all charges, including second-degree murder, by jurors who watched heart-stopping video of the high-speed crash in his trial for drunkenly ramming his car into the Hawaii Nail Salon and Spa in Deer Park on June 28, 2024.—
Jennifer McLogan,
CBS News,
4 June 2026
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And in the West Bank, emergency responders said a 17-year-old Israeli girl was in serious condition and a 15-year-old also was hurt in what police described as a ramming attack near a bus stop at Gush Etzion Junction.—
Samy Magdy,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Thudding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thudding. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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