1
as in nibbling
to eat reluctantly and in small bites
found out that fashion models never really eat—they just peck at small meals in expensive restaurants
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2
as in stabbing
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
the bird continued to peck the suet cake intently
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Recent Examples of pecking
The scene is right out of the 1950s with students pecking away at manual typewriters, the machines dinging at the end of each line.
—
Jocelyn Gecker, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
Our guy is just pecking away at his little typewriter or writing his memories in longhand.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
The lead stretched to 12 early in the third quarter, but slowly and painfully for Parker, the hosts, with Archer attacking the glass, kept pecking away.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026
Still, Lamb said lovebirds, like other parrots, can sometimes be violent with each other, screaming and pecking one another with beaks powerful enough to crack open seeds.
—ABC News, 13 Feb. 2026
The canine doesn't react in fear; the pup leans farther over the edge of the boat to get a closer look at the sizable creatures, almost pecking the whales on their massive mouths.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 19 Jan. 2026
By the time a new museum renovation has hatched, a successor is already pecking through its shell.
—Jackson Arn, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Except for a few children kicking a ball and some chickens pecking the ground, the village seemed almost deserted.
—Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 5 Nov. 2025
After Ohtani faltered, the game was the Blue Jays’ to lose, but the Dodgers kept pecking away.
—Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 2 Nov. 2025
Jocelyn Gecker, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
Our guy is just pecking away at his little typewriter or writing his memories in longhand.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
The lead stretched to 12 early in the third quarter, but slowly and painfully for Parker, the hosts, with Archer attacking the glass, kept pecking away.
—Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2026
Still, Lamb said lovebirds, like other parrots, can sometimes be violent with each other, screaming and pecking one another with beaks powerful enough to crack open seeds.
—ABC News, 13 Feb. 2026
The canine doesn't react in fear; the pup leans farther over the edge of the boat to get a closer look at the sizable creatures, almost pecking the whales on their massive mouths.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 19 Jan. 2026
By the time a new museum renovation has hatched, a successor is already pecking through its shell.
—Jackson Arn, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Except for a few children kicking a ball and some chickens pecking the ground, the village seemed almost deserted.
—Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 5 Nov. 2025
After Ohtani faltered, the game was the Blue Jays’ to lose, but the Dodgers kept pecking away.
—Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 2 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pecking
Verb
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In October 2025, a TikTok user posted a video of a gray squirrel nibbling on the mouth end of a vape device in Philadelphia.—
Ryan Brennan,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
26 Mar. 2026
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Their livestock wander about us, enormous antlers swinging, hooves clicking — the sound helps them to find each other in a blizzard — and occasionally nibbling lichen from Aatsinki’s outstretched hand.—
Liam Denning,
Bloomberg,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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She is accused of stabbing a pregnant woman outside in the parking lot of the Harris Teeter in Cotswold on March 18.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
1 Apr. 2026
-
In 2013 she was convicted of manslaughter in the stabbing death of her boyfriend.—
Tracy Grant,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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So is picking our favorite food, movies, sports and almost anything else where our individual preferences don’t always align with that of others.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Apr. 2026
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Rather than picking a fight with the White House, Blanco said, the judges are letting the top prosecutor fall on his face.—
Kevin Rector,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The original stickers — the ones jabbing at Biden — started appearing in 2021.—
Frank Witsil,
Freep.com,
1 Apr. 2026
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While his peers aimed to achieve maximum tension by barking about capitalism over jabbing, if not outright obnoxious, guitars, Shaw scrapped layer after layer—distortion pedals, crash cymbals, eventually the drum machine itself—to crystalize his band’s own sound.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Wi-Fi 7's puncturing capability is designed to isolate the interference, enabling devices to use the remainder of the channel.—
Iyaz Akhtar,
PC Magazine,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Riachi created the custom travertine fireplace with a walnut surround, puncturing it with vertical openings and linear alabaster wall sconces to echo the screens in the entrance hall.—
Amy Bradford,
Architectural Digest,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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With one quick push of a button, BLINGSTING Safety Alarms ear-piercing 125-decibel personal alarm sounds, intended to startle an aggressor and immediately alert bystanders that there’s a problem.—
Tory Johnson,
ABC News,
28 Mar. 2026
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Armed with my beloved buns (one already torn into) the rest of the flight slipped by, until New York’s piercing skyline came firmly into view.—
Arati Menon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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With nearly all of the 10 million Indians who live in the Gulf sticking it out during the conflict with Iran, efforts by New Delhi to overhaul the rights of its workers abroad are falling short of what is needed, according to the Indian news outlet Scroll.—
Kelsey Warner,
semafor.com,
30 Mar. 2026
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In Texas, a man was charged after allegedly sticking his camera up the skirt of an agent during a showing.—
Tim Stelloh,
NBC news,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Portuguese princess who could go from spitting 16s with Swollen Members to dropping ‘Maneater’ and ‘Promiscuous’ with Timbaland.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
30 Mar. 2026
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Because who wouldn’t want to join a religion seemingly spitting out beautiful women?—
Elizabeth Gulino,
Allure,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pecking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pecking. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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