as in bumping
to come into usually forceful contact with something
the snowball thudded against the side of my car
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of thudding
This music is often so simplistic—tenth-grade emo-thirst-trap-core with yearning synths, thudding drums, and maybe a lick of guitar—that a machine could do it too.
—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
25 June 2026
Some place where the days were days and the nights fell with thudding certainty.
—
Literary Hub,
17 June 2026
My heart begins thudding in time with her step.
—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
9 June 2026
The mantra is set against the kind of thudding club beat that defined the earliest phases of her career.
—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
2 May 2026
Each must traverse more than a mile-and-a-half of terrain, through a canyon, into shadows and out, over rolls that hurl the body half a football field through the air before thudding it back down again.
—
Barry Svrluga,
Washington Post,
8 Feb. 2026
The latest version kicks off with a moody set piece before a gun shot and thudding drums make way for a beat that sounds like a drowning beeper.
—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
The early-career excitement Spielberg generated with Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind came to a thudding halt with the frenetically busy, hopelessly bloated war comedy, 1941.
—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Nov. 2025
Here’s where the treadmill picks up and our steps start thudding on the track.
—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
25 June 2026
Some place where the days were days and the nights fell with thudding certainty.
—
Literary Hub,
17 June 2026
My heart begins thudding in time with her step.
—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
9 June 2026
The mantra is set against the kind of thudding club beat that defined the earliest phases of her career.
—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
2 May 2026
Each must traverse more than a mile-and-a-half of terrain, through a canyon, into shadows and out, over rolls that hurl the body half a football field through the air before thudding it back down again.
—
Barry Svrluga,
Washington Post,
8 Feb. 2026
The latest version kicks off with a moody set piece before a gun shot and thudding drums make way for a beat that sounds like a drowning beeper.
—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
The early-career excitement Spielberg generated with Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind came to a thudding halt with the frenetically busy, hopelessly bloated war comedy, 1941.
—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Nov. 2025
Here’s where the treadmill picks up and our steps start thudding on the track.
—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thudding
Verb
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In this case, safe meant a track big enough for two riders to race without bumping into each other.
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Hurd was seen fist-bumping another attacker moments after deputies intervened, Madden Ragland said.
Verb
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The Atlas Lions made the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, breaking through the glass ceiling that CAF teams had been banging their heads on for decades at the quarter-final stage.
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While the cameras were rolling, Spielberg would stand just out of frame with two wooden bats, banging them together to startle her.
Verb
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An on-and-off again rivalry during the primary The two men shared a similar message during the primary, slamming Democrats for mismanaging the state and calling for tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks.
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Also in 2007, Spencer was sentenced concurrently to seven years in prison for choking a woman, slamming her head to the ground, and robbing her of her cellphone, and for smashing into a woman's car and ransacking it, prosecutors said.
Verb
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Ryan Lasko, an outfielder with the Double-A Midland RockHounds, suffered a C6-C7 vertebrae fracture Tuesday night while going for a fly ball in right-center field, for which both Lasko and right fielder Devin Taylor dove before colliding.
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Mbappé ran up the center of the field to celebrate his 61st international goal, colliding with Dembélé, and jogged to the bench to hug Deschamps, who returned for the match after going to France for his mother's funeral.
Verb
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Powell is accused of smashing the mug over the victim's head.
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France saw around 1,000 additional deaths last week at the height of its record-smashing heat wave, the country's public health agency said Sunday, as the head of the World Health Organization warned that Europe is now the fastest-warming continent and needs to do more to protect its citizens.
Verb
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They were taken into custody after crashing into a police squad car.
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More than 40,000 Colombian fans were expected at the match and this time, nobody was crashing through the gates without tickets, as thousands did for the 2024 Copa America final against Argentina.
Verb
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And take the Exit Readiness Quiz to understand exactly where the gaps are before any business buyer comes knocking.
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Even 6 inches of moving water can pose a serious risk of knocking you off your feet.
Verb
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Other threats against such large events include a potential vehicle-ramming attack or a mass shooting.
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Footage from outdoor security cameras on the woman's home shows that the car was moving at a high speed before ramming into the home.
Cite this Entry
“Thudding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thudding. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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