as in thump
a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument
he got a biff in the noggin as his reward for trying to intervene in the fight
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to smack
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
the elderly woman swung her purse and biffed the mugger upside the head
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of biff
Mike Meehall Wood, Forbes, 25 May 2021
Here are the best biffs: Between now and Saturday night, each of the 25 finalist robots will get one chance to run through the gauntlet.
—Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, 5 June 2015
Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
Noun
Nobody loves the old school biff more than me.
—Mike Meehall Wood, Forbes, 25 May 2021
Here are the best biffs: Between now and Saturday night, each of the 25 finalist robots will get one chance to run through the gauntlet.
—Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, 5 June 2015
Verb
The Dodgers have by no means biffed this series.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for biff
Noun
-
Pitchers and catchers report This week, Albernaz gets a glimpse of his pitching staff and catchers, before the thump of an offensive lineup joins the workouts.—
Adam Thompson,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
-
For what felt like an eternity — but was really 20 minutes — the whole place was enveloped in an eerie silence, the only sound being the steady thump of techno-pop playing through the loudspeakers.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But tens of thousands of films are made each year, and quite a few of them break the rules, defy conventional narrative expectations and smack us deep in our souls.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Shepard attached the head of a 6-iron golf club to his sample collecting tool and was recorded smacking a couple golf balls across the lunar landscape.—
Arizona Republic,
AZCentral.com,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Muffled thuds are heard, and the crying stops.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Sidney Crosby was silent, Evgeni Malkin’s misplay led to a goal and Erik Karlsson was responsible for two other goals against as the Penguins saw their six-game winning streak end with a thud in a 3-2 setback against the Ottawa Senators on Monday at PPG Paints Arena.—
Josh Yohe,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As former agent and cap expert Joel Corry told me, the amount that Ross agrees to pay of Tagovailoa’s 2026 salary (for a new team) would not have much effect on his Dolphins’ dead money cap hit provided the trade is made after June 1.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Some of the students at Naperville North tried to mimic the coach’s actions, working on their technique, while other appeared to be more focused on hitting the ball to their friend as hard as possible.—
Carolyn Stein,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The pair of teams traded blows for the rest of regulation, with Gibbs-Lawhorn sinking the game-tying 3-point shot with 38 seconds left.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Its reversal is a massive blow to efforts to combat climate change.—
Josephine Rozzelle,
CNBC,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Brookwood junior Collier Stanton extended his arm to the wall, glanced at the scoreboard and slapped the water as his older brother, Baylor, pumped his fist behind the block.—
Ansley Gavlak,
AJC.com,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Having already tied his career-high in 3-pointers made, Fielder only had eyes for the basket, even as New Mexico’s Tomislav Buljan slapped through the back of his arm and drew the referee’s whistle.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
While Pistons forward Tobias Harris was holding Diabate back, Diabate threw a punch at Duren.—
Steve Reed,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Pistons veteran Tobias Harris was holding back Diabate, when the latter threw a punch at Duren, escalating the whole situation.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
And Peters has been banging his head on his desk trying to get Congress to use it.—
Josh Tyrangiel,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Anthropic’s lunchroom, downstairs, was where Claude banged its head against walls in real life.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Biff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/biff. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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