as in smacked
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
didn't sleep a wink all night because she was too busy swatting mosquitoes
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of swatted
Eichel swatted home a rebound just after linemate Ivan Barbashev had gone crashing through the crease, catching Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen in the head and knocking him to the ice.
—
Chris Johnston, New York Times, 7 June 2026
Trey Gambill, after two fly-outs, swatted a homer to center, his ninth of the season, giving Oklahoma a 7-0 lead.
—Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 7 June 2026
Phil Mickelson swatted a moving golf ball on the 13th green out of frustration.
—ABC News, 3 June 2026
Golden State swatted 11 shots Thursday, a league-wide single-game high for the season.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 29 May 2026
The Fever guard swatted a shot from Seattle’s Mackenzie Holmes, then immediately let everyone in the building know about it.
—Dan Zaksheske Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2026
Toews’ deflection bounced high from the left face-off dot toward Wedgewood’s net — but before the goalie could control the rebound, Hartman swatted it like a pickleball volley in mid-air and past the Colorado goaltender for a 3-0 Minnesota lead.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 10 May 2026
The Canadiens would go nearly 30 minutes without a shot on net, but then got another unusual score when Lane Hutson’s shot rebounded off the back wall, hung momentarily in the air, and then was swatted expertly by Alex Newhook off Andrei Vasilevskiy’s leg.
—John Romano, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 May 2026
The bee that flies alone gets swatted, or at least turned into a necklace at some rich lady’s garden party.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
Chris Johnston, New York Times, 7 June 2026
Trey Gambill, after two fly-outs, swatted a homer to center, his ninth of the season, giving Oklahoma a 7-0 lead.
—Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 7 June 2026
Phil Mickelson swatted a moving golf ball on the 13th green out of frustration.
—ABC News, 3 June 2026
Golden State swatted 11 shots Thursday, a league-wide single-game high for the season.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 29 May 2026
The Fever guard swatted a shot from Seattle’s Mackenzie Holmes, then immediately let everyone in the building know about it.
—Dan Zaksheske Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2026
Toews’ deflection bounced high from the left face-off dot toward Wedgewood’s net — but before the goalie could control the rebound, Hartman swatted it like a pickleball volley in mid-air and past the Colorado goaltender for a 3-0 Minnesota lead.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 10 May 2026
The Canadiens would go nearly 30 minutes without a shot on net, but then got another unusual score when Lane Hutson’s shot rebounded off the back wall, hung momentarily in the air, and then was swatted expertly by Alex Newhook off Andrei Vasilevskiy’s leg.
—John Romano, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 May 2026
The bee that flies alone gets swatted, or at least turned into a necklace at some rich lady’s garden party.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swatted
Verb
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Llamas smacked 139 hits in her career, Kyles 136.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 June 2026
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In his first three games of the season, Bryant had 350 receiving yards to go along with four touchdowns, before an all-too familiar foe smacked him down with a brutal punishment.—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
9 June 2026
Verb
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Fireworks lit up the night sky, people honked horns on jampacked streets and firefighters — from their trucks — slapped high-fives with delirious fans.—
Tim Reynolds,
Los Angeles Times,
14 June 2026
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Do not read this if my editors have slapped a closeup of cochliomyia hominivorax, aka nightmare flesh-eating parasite, on top of this column.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
12 June 2026
Verb
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Robinson responded with a forearm to Wembanyama’s neck that either knocked him to the ground or gave sufficient cover for a flop.—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
11 June 2026
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Last September, a fire at a South Korean data center knocked 647 government services offline.—
Leonard Lim,
Fortune,
10 June 2026
Verb
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Lightning hits the United States approximately 25 million times annually.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
13 June 2026
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Right fielder Jung Hoo Lee saw his 18-game hitting streak, the longest active streak in the majors entering play, come to an end after going hitless in three at-bats.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
13 June 2026
Verb
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Among those arrested was a woman who allegedly punched a police officer.—
Connor Greene,
Time,
9 June 2026
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Emily Dunn then responded with a goal for Walpole, but Duxbury punched right back via the stick of Emma Prouty.—
Justin Barrasso,
Boston Herald,
9 June 2026
Verb
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A little over a month later, another spell of freezing weather bullied its way into Central Florida and slammed the remaining citrus groves that had just started to recover.—
Martin E. Comas,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 June 2026
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Rob Stewart was slammed by fans for jetting off to attend Scotland's FIFA World Cup match in Boston less than a day after the rocker canceled a concert in California due to health issues.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
14 June 2026
Verb
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The Americans gradually amplified their attack centered around Pulisic’s runs — and three minutes after an apparent goal from Balogun was erased by an offside call, Pulisic again drove the left side and got a deflected pass to the trailing Balogun, who banged it home.—
Greg Beacham,
Chicago Tribune,
13 June 2026
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Instead, both hesitated, their feet tangled and a charging Healy banged in the loose ball.—
Idaho Statesman,
Idaho Statesman,
12 June 2026
Verb
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Some clapped when Knicks head coach Mike Brown hailed reserve guard Jose Alvarado’s performance—8 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, all in the fourth quarter—during the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, which put the Knicks one win away from their first title since 1973.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
11 June 2026
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After beating the throw to first base, Bowen clapped his hands together and hollered a few times.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Swatted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swatted. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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