sucker punching

present participle of sucker punch

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sucker punching
Verb
  • The footage showed the elephant, which may have weighed 10,000 pounds, knocking down a female tourist into the waters with her trunk, and then briefly pinning her before giving up, the outlet reported.
    David Chiu, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Firefighters initially took a defensive stance, fighting the blaze from the outside the building to stop its spread, before knocking down the flames enough for crews to enter the business, which had its windows boarded up because of vandalism earlier in the week.
    Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Rice arrived in the summer of 2023 as a multifaceted midfielder who spent most of his first six months at Arsenal playing as a No 6, before pushing up into a more box-to-box role in the second half of 2023-24.
    Art de Roché, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and the richest person on the planet, has single-handedly been one of most influential leaders in pushing for 21st-century space accessibility.
    Jason Del Rey, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • For a company like Tesla, dumping the AM/FM radio to cut costs does not exactly scream innovation.
    Patrick George, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2025
  • In a lefty-on-lefty matchup, McMahon battled Fluharty for seven pitches, dumping an 83 mph sweeper that was out and over the plate into the right-field short porch.
    The Athletic MLB Staff, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The 33-year-old suspect in the Kroger Marketplace stabbing in Southgate was acting in self-defense while being punched at work, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
    Natalie Davies, Freep.com, 13 Oct. 2025
  • And when her neighbor horrifyingly begins stabbing herself repeatedly.
    Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 10 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The man with the gray shirt was thrown on the ground with six men punching and kicking him until he was captured curling up in the fetal position.
    Sarah Rumpf-Whitten , Adriana James-Rodil, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Video shows Balmer running and kicking the double doors leading to the governor’s private family quarters.
    Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • His slashing playing style caught Lorch’s eye at a tournament in the summer of 1991, and the 13-year-old was soon on a plane with future pros Erick Barkley and Stephon Marbury to an event in Arizona.
    Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Milei has repeatedly wielded a chainsaw on stage to promote slashing spending, but his agenda, which also includes deregulation and free-market reform, has led to a volatile peso currency and seen investors aggressively dump Argentine stocks and bonds.
    Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 15 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The New York Jets are flailing, still trying to crack the seal for their first win of 2025.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
  • According to the Money Doctor, the administration’s interest in a plan that would substitute the dollar for the flailing Argentine peso has greatly intensified in recent weeks as Milei’s political fortunes have weakened.
    Shawn Tully, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Ahead of the 2024 season, Corbett had two knee injuries in back-to-back years and was switching positions from right guard to center.
    Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 15 Oct. 2025
  • The previous recall was issued due to a shifter cable that detached from the transmission, effectively preventing some vehicles from switching gears and allowing the vehicles to roll away.
    Saleen Martin, USA Today, 15 Oct. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Sucker punching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sucker%20punching. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.

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