as in fumbling
to search for something blindly or uncertainly
take a minute to fish for some change to drop in the donation box
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fishing
Lastly, Kyaw Zayar Lin's photo at the top of this story features children fishing in the early hours of the day in the wetlands of Myanmar's Inle Lake.
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New Atlas, 21 Mar. 2026
Hell, the movie even opens with several of the men fishing together off a lakeside dock — could any activity be more emblematic of straight, middle-class, American dadness?
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 20 Mar. 2026
Authorities on Monday recovered the body of a Central Valley man who did not return home after going fishing near the eastern edge of Alameda County.
—Annie Vainshtein, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Mar. 2026
Small, silvery fish are expected to come ashore in Southern California for several days in March, making for a unique sight — and an opportunity to go fishing.
—Paris Barraza, USA Today, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fishing
New Atlas, 21 Mar. 2026
Hell, the movie even opens with several of the men fishing together off a lakeside dock — could any activity be more emblematic of straight, middle-class, American dadness?
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 20 Mar. 2026
Authorities on Monday recovered the body of a Central Valley man who did not return home after going fishing near the eastern edge of Alameda County.
—Annie Vainshtein, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Mar. 2026
Small, silvery fish are expected to come ashore in Southern California for several days in March, making for a unique sight — and an opportunity to go fishing.
—Paris Barraza, USA Today, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fishing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fishing
Verb
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Nothing erodes confidence faster than fumbling for lockboxes, waiting on unresponsive listing agents, or showing a space that clearly doesn’t fit.—
Allen Buchanan,
Oc Register,
28 Mar. 2026
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Last season’s Detroit Tigers endured the worst divisional collapse in history, fumbling an AL Central lead that reached 15 1/2 games in July.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The district is also looking at how to pay for aging equipment including heating, ventilation and air conditioning, which could require at least $500,000 in budget increases.—
Fousia Abdullahi,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
2 Apr. 2026
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Rabell said Hernandez’s mother, who lived at the property and ran it with her boyfriend, brought her before at least one ALF owner who was looking for a new resident.—
Carol Marbin Miller,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fishing. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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