as in hammering
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1
as in shuffling
to move heavily or clumsily
pounding down the road as fast as he could run
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in banging
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
pounding nails into boards all day long
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in licking
to strike repeatedly
during the storm the waves furiously pounded the beach
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4
as in drawing
to shape with a hammer
pounding out a depression in the metal
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5
as in grinding
to reduce to fine particles
the tablet may be pounded and mixed in with the animal's food
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Recent Examples of pounding
Norma Torres, Oc Register, 6 Jan. 2026
In that room, Cristobal didn’t come down hard on his staff, no yelling or pounding of the table.
—Chris Vannini, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2026
Had the pounding on his front door happened just a little later in the afternoon, Eads would most likely have returned home to learn of a tragedy.
—Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Dec. 2025
The pounding ensued even more with a touchdown from senior halfback Ibrahim Kaba and a bomb caught by Ramar Thomas to close out the game.
—Patrick Plunkett, Boston Herald, 27 Nov. 2025
There was a ringing in his ears, the pounding of blood as his body fought to stay upright.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
Russia is intensifying its pounding of Ukraine, with June seeing the highest civilian casualties in three years.
—Shira Li Bartov, Sun Sentinel, 5 Aug. 2025
New Atlas, 8 Feb. 2026
But if Robert Icke’s pulse-pounding Broadway production is any indication, Sophocles’ 2,500-year-old Greek tragedy still has the ability to shock.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 5 Feb. 2026
Meanwhile, Russia is pounding Ukrainian cities, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in the dark and cold as temperatures plummet.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026
Rain pounding against windows and ocean waves crashing into the foundations of shoreline homes with wind gusts of over 60 mph — what may sound like a stormy September day in Florida took place in Milford during Tropical Storm Isaias in August 2020.
—Maleena Muzio, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2026
Russia has been pounding Ukraine's critical infrastructure, hoping to wear down public resistance to the war while leaving many around the country having to endure the dead of winter without heat.
—Aamer Madhani and Susie Blann The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 30 Jan. 2026
For now, however, the first part of the season mostly succeeds at balancing power dynamics and pulse-pounding romance, with a major assist from the warm and hot chemistry between season leads Luke Thompson and series newbie Yerin Ha.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 29 Jan. 2026
Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, hoping to wear down public resistance to the war while leaving many around the country having to endure the dead of winter without heat.
—Aamer Madhani, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
Tim Seymour has been pounding the table about this on our show, rattling off a litany of reasons why the European economy is actually on an upswing--from higher defense spending to, believe it or not, deregulation!
—Kelly Evans, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
Noun
The memories remained from crawling across the balcony, the pounding on the chamber doors, the screams echoing through the rotunda.
—Norma Torres, Oc Register, 6 Jan. 2026
In that room, Cristobal didn’t come down hard on his staff, no yelling or pounding of the table.
—Chris Vannini, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2026
Had the pounding on his front door happened just a little later in the afternoon, Eads would most likely have returned home to learn of a tragedy.
—Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Dec. 2025
The pounding ensued even more with a touchdown from senior halfback Ibrahim Kaba and a bomb caught by Ramar Thomas to close out the game.
—Patrick Plunkett, Boston Herald, 27 Nov. 2025
There was a ringing in his ears, the pounding of blood as his body fought to stay upright.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
Russia is intensifying its pounding of Ukraine, with June seeing the highest civilian casualties in three years.
—Shira Li Bartov, Sun Sentinel, 5 Aug. 2025
Verb
With its newest release, Canadian RV specialist Leisure Travel Vans (LTV) adjusts focus from luxurious leisure to heart-pounding adventure travel.
—New Atlas, 8 Feb. 2026
But if Robert Icke’s pulse-pounding Broadway production is any indication, Sophocles’ 2,500-year-old Greek tragedy still has the ability to shock.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 5 Feb. 2026
Meanwhile, Russia is pounding Ukrainian cities, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in the dark and cold as temperatures plummet.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026
Rain pounding against windows and ocean waves crashing into the foundations of shoreline homes with wind gusts of over 60 mph — what may sound like a stormy September day in Florida took place in Milford during Tropical Storm Isaias in August 2020.
—Maleena Muzio, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2026
Russia has been pounding Ukraine's critical infrastructure, hoping to wear down public resistance to the war while leaving many around the country having to endure the dead of winter without heat.
—Aamer Madhani and Susie Blann The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 30 Jan. 2026
For now, however, the first part of the season mostly succeeds at balancing power dynamics and pulse-pounding romance, with a major assist from the warm and hot chemistry between season leads Luke Thompson and series newbie Yerin Ha.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 29 Jan. 2026
Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, hoping to wear down public resistance to the war while leaving many around the country having to endure the dead of winter without heat.
—Aamer Madhani, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
Tim Seymour has been pounding the table about this on our show, rattling off a litany of reasons why the European economy is actually on an upswing--from higher defense spending to, believe it or not, deregulation!
—Kelly Evans, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pounding
Noun
-
Software meltdown Last week, software stocks took a hammering after Anthropic's productivity tool Claude Cowork gained traction.—
Arjun Kharpal,Sawdah Bhaimiya,
CNBC,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Eric Freeny blocked Smith, Bilodeau grabbed the loose ball and threw an outlet to Dailey for a hammering dunk.—
Aaron Heisen,
Daily News,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Bridgerton treats it as though every woman got multiples of their yearbook photo to hand around as headshots, and Benedict’s taking what would have been treasured personal heirlooms and just shuffling through them and tossing out anyone with the wrong hair color.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Silvia showed them little affection or attention, shuffling quickly through the infants to feed, change, or hold them.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
My ten-year-old granddaughter was marching and banging her little saucepan with a salad spoon.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Online posts questioning the city’s account continued into the week, and protesters have kept returning to the Hyatt, banging pots and chanting in subfreezing temperatures.—
Emiliano Tahui Gómez,
Austin American Statesman,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
As finger-licking as the savory food is, the real headliner here is dessert.—
Skye Sherman,
Southern Living,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Mitch West, meanwhile, was licking his wounds on Monday night, when snow still hadn’t touched down in his region of South Carolina.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The Florida Lottery site states game add-ons include Double Play for $1, a bonus drawing where players could win up to $250,000 using the same numbers (Double Play drawings are held immediately after Florida Lotto drawings).—
Jennifer Sangalang,
Florida Times-Union,
5 Feb. 2026
-
As did the fact that our professors were clearly having a wonderful time, joining in our creative-writing exercises and drawing lessons with gusto.—
Richard Godwin,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Many came from grinding poverty and squalor.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
For Jones, doing his part meant observing, which led to at least four officers jumping on his back, handcuffing him, crushing his legs, and grinding his forehead into the frozen concrete.—
Evan Minsker,
Rolling Stone,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Stevenson played his best game in the Pats’ regular-season finale, a 38-10 thrashing of Miami.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
5 Feb. 2026
-
And, the 56-22 CFP semifinal Peach Bowl thrashing of Oregon began with Ponds’ interception return for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Han will be posted up by the Milennium Falcon and/or Oga’s Cantina, Luke will be stomping his Chanel boots in the marketplace, and Darth Vader will be force-choking dads in Grumpy tees.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
14 Jan. 2026
-
Then there’s the people watching, from the tailgating to the communal divot stomping, full of dramatic sun dresses and hats with flourishes, seersucker suits and, yes, hats with flourishes.—
Eric Barton,
Sun Sentinel,
4 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pounding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pounding. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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