as in bumping
to come into usually forceful contact with something
the snowball thudded against the side of my car
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of thudding
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
With daily departures from Chicago Union station, the superliner service rumbles through Illinois chasing mile after mile of golden-red corn fields before thudding over the Mississippi river into Iowa.
—Monisha Rajesh, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Oct. 2022
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
With daily departures from Chicago Union station, the superliner service rumbles through Illinois chasing mile after mile of golden-red corn fields before thudding over the Mississippi river into Iowa.
—Monisha Rajesh, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Oct. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thudding
Verb
-
Back-rower Abi Burton had to lock for the first time, 19-year-old back-rower Demelza Short debuted, and Emma Sing got a shot at fullback, bumping Ellie Kildunne to the wing.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 Apr. 2026
-
Five years later, Marquinhos was chest-bumping Thiago Silva, his countryman and mentor at PSG, after forcing Mohamed Salah to run the ball out of play at the Parc des Princes for Liverpool.—
Stuart James,
New York Times,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Jurors then heard sounds of banging and choking and Athena screaming and crying, the Star-Telegram reports.—
KC Baker,
PEOPLE,
22 Apr. 2026
-
On the night he was arrested, Martinez confessed to shaking Heather and banging her head against a crib, but later recanted that confession.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Video emerged online showing a red Ferrari shooting out of a tunnel along the highway at a high speed, slamming into a concrete barrier where the road curved and erupting into flames.—
Alexandra Del Rosario,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Hamadeh, who won his seat in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District in 2024, also spent time in his speech slamming top Democrats with insults.—
Arizona Republic,
AZCentral.com,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Two Southwest Airlines planes had to take evasive action to avoid colliding Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee, after an air traffic controller directed one pilot to turn into the path of the other plane.—
Josh Funk,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Apr. 2026
-
But the push is already colliding with reality.—
Catherine Thorbecke,
Boston Herald,
18 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But as anyone who’s dropped a mug knows, ceramics are also brittle and prone to smashing.—
Caitlin Kennedy,
Scientific American,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Police officers arrived at her Hollywood Hills home in Los Angeles and learned that the attackers had left the woman inside after allegedly smashing her jaw and choking her.—
Francie Ebert,
NBC news,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Doing that at speed without crashing requires constant correction.—
Adriana James-Rodil,
FOXNews.com,
22 Apr. 2026
-
The aircraft exploded minutes after takeoff from Colón, a Caribbean port city about 50 miles from the capital, before crashing without survivors.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Sun Sentinel,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Iranians have been knocking around in the United States’ critical infrastructure for years.—
Sue Halpern,
New Yorker,
24 Apr. 2026
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Serve it at room temperature so the salad on top won't wilt (and the cooking is complete before the guests come knocking).—
Ashlyn Ware,
Midwest Living,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In the first shooting, Homeland Security officials accused a man of weaponizing his car and ramming a law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee.—
Ruben Vives,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Watson founded the global Sea Shepherd conservation movement in the 1970s and for decades won a fearsome reputation for ramming vessels and other aggressive tactics in confrontations on the high seas that repeatedly landed him in jail.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Thudding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thudding. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
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