as in pierces
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
stabbed the pesky leaf with the tines of the rake
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in punctures
a mark or small hole made by a pointed instrument
the injection left a small stab on her upper arm
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stabs
Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Sep. 2025
Spike takes one of Kelson's tranquilizer darts filled with morphine and stabs Samson in the arm with it.
—Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
After a dramatic confrontation among all parties, Jonah stabs Henry in the chest and shoots him point-blank in the head.
—Claire Franken, TVLine, 18 Sep. 2025
The video shows Zarutska sit in a seat in front of Brown, who fixates on her and after several minutes pulls out a knife and stabs her several times in the neck, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
—Danielle Battaglia, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2025
Harrison stabs Prater with the needle and knocks the billionaire out.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
The person then stabs it with a long knife.
—Claudia Lauer, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2025
Near the end of the video, the unseen cameraperson flips the notebook to a page containing a diagram of the church and stabs the diagram with a knife.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
After he's caught red-handed, the pilot goes to confront him when the captain stabs him before throwing him overboard.
—Esther Kang, People.com, 26 Dec. 2024
Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2025
But before that transition takes place, here are a few final stabs at what’s to come for the Timberwolves in the 2025-26 season.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 17 Oct. 2025
That did actually happen, but Van Sant and screenwriter Austin Kolodny make some additional stabs at turning Fred into the spine of the picture, structuring the movie around his broadcasts — a filmmaking convention that doesn’t really bring anything new to this particular story.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Shorter sci-fi stabs meet surging upward flourishes which also link Believe stylistically to disco and Hi-NRG, associating the track with certain gay subcultural histories.
—Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 9 Aug. 2025
While never-ending rounds of press spread into the evening, Monsta X sets a tempo and refuses to waver, cracking jokes and hyping each other up while taking stabs at English.
—Abby Webster, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
Alex breaks free and, in a panic, repeatedly stabs Evelyn with the syringe.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Sep. 2025
Spike takes one of Kelson's tranquilizer darts filled with morphine and stabs Samson in the arm with it.
—Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
After a dramatic confrontation among all parties, Jonah stabs Henry in the chest and shoots him point-blank in the head.
—Claire Franken, TVLine, 18 Sep. 2025
The video shows Zarutska sit in a seat in front of Brown, who fixates on her and after several minutes pulls out a knife and stabs her several times in the neck, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
—Danielle Battaglia, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2025
Harrison stabs Prater with the needle and knocks the billionaire out.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
The person then stabs it with a long knife.
—Claudia Lauer, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2025
Near the end of the video, the unseen cameraperson flips the notebook to a page containing a diagram of the church and stabs the diagram with a knife.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
After he's caught red-handed, the pilot goes to confront him when the captain stabs him before throwing him overboard.
—Esther Kang, People.com, 26 Dec. 2024
Noun
There were stabs at horny lounge jazz, a melodramatic Latin guitar ballad, even a folksy blues number.
—Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2025
But before that transition takes place, here are a few final stabs at what’s to come for the Timberwolves in the 2025-26 season.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 17 Oct. 2025
That did actually happen, but Van Sant and screenwriter Austin Kolodny make some additional stabs at turning Fred into the spine of the picture, structuring the movie around his broadcasts — a filmmaking convention that doesn’t really bring anything new to this particular story.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Shorter sci-fi stabs meet surging upward flourishes which also link Believe stylistically to disco and Hi-NRG, associating the track with certain gay subcultural histories.
—Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 9 Aug. 2025
While never-ending rounds of press spread into the evening, Monsta X sets a tempo and refuses to waver, cracking jokes and hyping each other up while taking stabs at English.
—Abby Webster, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stabs
Verb
-
Her infectious laugh regularly pierces the newsroom noise.—
Brad Schmitt,
Nashville Tennessean,
20 Oct. 2025
-
But the show's greatest asset is its stars, whose endearing real-life friendship pierces through the play’s inherent despair.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The onboard video from the Racing Bulls car reveals Lawson’s split-second oversteer snap correction played a big part in the collision that left both with punctures.—
Alex Kalinauckas,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Battery systems based on it are also potentially safer (less prone to thermal runaway, may handle punctures better).—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The city said the suit followed months of attempts to obtain voluntary compliance in response to numerous public records requests for Blain’s messages on private email accounts, text messaging and other applications, which are all subject to disclosure if discussing city business.—
Susan Gill Vardon,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Oct. 2025
-
The offense marched down the field drive after drive following those first three failed attempts, taking advantage of short fields presented to them by punt returns and takeaways.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Srinivas, who often jabs the search engine giant, made an interesting point.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Haggard jabs Baird over mailers The race is already tense.—
Kayla Dwyer,
IndyStar,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Despite its 2-5 record, Cleveland can throw some punches through one of the fiercest defensive lines in football.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Leo pulls no punches as Lizzo matches her intensity in a whisper.—
Meagan Jordan,
Rolling Stone,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Kicker Brandon Aubrey is 15 of 15 on the year, though, and has nailed all five of his tries from 50-plus yards.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
24 Oct. 2025
-
After several tries, rescuers managed to lure the kitten with food before using a leash pole to snare it around the neck and hoist it to safety.—
Ronnie Li,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
So until the party picks its next presidential nominee—still at least 18 months away—there is no real leader of the Democratic Party.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
28 Oct. 2025
-
For the first time in its history, this year’s batch of Gotham nominees includes 10 Best Feature picks.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
These nation-wide country-goes-city celebrations of agricultural bounty, mechanical innovations and skilled handcrafts have been drawing crowds since the first fair was held in upstate New York in 1841.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stabs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stabs. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share