How to Use ripple in a Sentence

ripple

1 of 2 verb
  • A cool breeze rippled the water.
  • We could see the lion's muscles ripple.
  • Water rippled under the dock.
  • These new songs don’t ripple with doubt but with fear and fury.
    — Grace Byron, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2025
  • This chill that ripples through my skin might be nothing.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Then a murmur rippled through the room.
    — Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
  • But how heat waves are rippling through the ground is much less studied.
    — Matt Simon, WIRED, 9 Oct. 2023
  • Fears of bad loans ripple through markets.
    — Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2025
  • One storm can ripple across the country.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 9 May 2026
  • With a knife that has a very fine edge, too much wear and tear can cause the steel to ripple or bend.
    — Laura Denby, Peoplemag, 6 Oct. 2022
  • At one point an excited cheer rippled through the bar.
    — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Light beamed from a single window above and rippled around him.
    — Literary Hub, 15 Dec. 2025
  • If one part slows down, the impact ripples across the entire chain.
    — Robert Rapier, Forbes.com, 24 May 2026
  • The episode highlights a wider debate now rippling through the art world.
    — Graham Bowley, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2023
  • With no clear end in sight, the fuel crisis is now rippling across economies.
    — ABC News, 11 May 2026
  • Life seems to slow with the rippling rhythm of waves and caress of cooling breezes.
    — Denise Hruby, Miami Herald, 15 Dec. 2025
  • Fringe followed, rippling across hems and sleeves with a sense of motion and fun.
    — Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2025
  • When your attacker has that much time and space to pick their spot, the net needs to ripple.
    — Beren Cross, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Sonic booms would ripple across the planet.
    — Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 25 Dec. 2025
  • Just a slight breeze rippled across the small cove separating them from the boat launch.
    — David Murray, USA TODAY, 14 Aug. 2023
  • But if that boom fizzles, the pain will ripple through the whole economy.
    — Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2025
  • If those rates rise, the higher costs can ripple outward in the form of higher prices.
    — Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 5 Mar. 2026
  • The strike sparked a yearslong battle that would ripple throughout the state.
    — Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2022
  • Today, this problem is rippling through our schools like a wave moving its way to shore.
    — Steve Grubbs, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Outside, a hot breeze rippled through the fronds of towering palms.
    — Livia Albeck-Ripka, New York Times, 20 June 2023
  • The fate of Iran—and its leadership—could ripple across the world once again, too.
    — Robin Wright, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
  • That sense of alarm rippled well beyond Jalisco.
    — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Wooden slats hang from the ceiling, rippling across like water.
    — Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Ansel Adams looked through his lens from the sky and saw them as elegant waves rippling across the hills.
    — Curbed, 29 Nov. 2023
  • The rise in oil prices is rippling through the US economy.
    — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 28 Mar. 2026

ripple

2 of 2 noun
  • The pebble made ripples in the pond when I threw it in.
  • The weight of this loss will send ripples through time.
    — Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 3 Dec. 2025
  • But this does throw a bit of a ripple into the works.
    — Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 11 Jan. 2026
  • The ripple is about to become a wave.
    — Christina Cheddar Berk, CNBC, 1 Jan. 2026
  • At first the room was silent, but then a ripple of whispers spread.
    — Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Red, dark brown and tan sand ripples like the desert mountains.
    — Jenna Thompson june 10, Kansas City Star, 10 June 2026
  • The fiberglass body of our test car had not a ripple across its curvy flanks.
    — Larry Webster, Car and Driver, 5 Aug. 2023
  • Two World Wars each launched half-decade ripples.
    — Jason Kirk, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2026
  • At sea, with enough time and space, those ripples can turn into large waves.
    — Francesco Fedele, The Conversation, 12 Aug. 2025
  • But on the other hand, a certain irony ripples though the move.
    — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 19 Nov. 2025
  • However, there is a small ripple that could lead to a big wave of change.
    — Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The ripples of that day continue to spread across the state.
    — Bo Evans, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Bolduc sensed a supportive ripple from the crowd, and leaned in.
    — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2022
  • Crabs scuttle across the seafloor as water ripples around your feet.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
  • Irving’s trade request was the restive ripple that spawned a tidal wave.
    — Christopher L. Gasper, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Feb. 2023
  • Heavy bass ripples across the dancing crowd and ears meet mouths as friends try to make out a few words.
    — Arcelia Martin, Dallas News, 15 June 2023
  • This contrasts with the soft, flowing warmth of the red coral dome and the ripples of gold.
    — Rosie Jarman, ELLE, 7 Apr. 2023
  • The jagged ripples of their clothing and skin match the cracks of the fractured world around them.
    — Literary Hub, 17 Nov. 2025
  • Because what some saw as a forthcoming red wave turned out to be a ripple, at best.
    — Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 9 Nov. 2022
  • More than a week after the event, its ripples are being felt most in smaller coins.
    — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Though actions dissipate like mist, and their ripples fade like scars too.
    — Riley Van Steward, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2023
  • Mixing and matching all those arms to bridge the gap creates ripples through the bullpen, too.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Remember — even the tiniest act can make a big ripple!
    — Ronnie Li, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025
  • The first images from this setup revealed faint ripples on the surface of the pile.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 31 Aug. 2025
  • Some of the other ripples, though, aren't as obvious.
    — ABC News, 14 May 2026
  • Some of the other ripples, though, aren’t as obvious.
    — Deepti Hajela, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2026
  • Deliver the bait to a likely spot and let the ripples settle.
    — Gerald Almy, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2023
  • That means any ripples spotted in this situation are made by a quark alone.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Each builds on the one before it, like ripples moving outward from a stone dropped in water.
    — Big Think, 7 May 2026
  • We’re made from ripples of a universe, and that is a very different picture.
    — Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ripple.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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