caning

verb

present participle of cane
as in spanking

Related Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for caning
  1. flagellating
  2. smacking
  3. slapping
  4. boxing
  5. chopping
  6. thwacking
  7. whacking
  8. hitting
Verb
  • Some go further, flagellating themselves or using a sword to strike their forehead to draw blood.
    — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2026
  • His only way of finding any kind of life for himself is to embrace evil, to stop running away from it, to try to stop morally flagellating himself.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 25 Feb. 2026
Definition of flagellating
Verb
  • Deputies responded to a report of a driver smacking his car into a guardrail in front of The Bridge Restaurant before driving away, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
    — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 6 June 2026
  • As the match got away from her in the second set and the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd became increasingly hostile, Andreeva fully unraveled, smacking another ball towards the roof and asking members of her box to leave.
    — Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 2 June 2026
Definition of smacking
Verb
  • There was briefly some concern earlier this year that Chestnut wouldn’t be able to participate in the 2026 competition after he was arrested for allegedly slapping a man in an Indiana bar.
    — Kyla Guilfoil, NBC news, 5 July 2026
  • Chestnut competed in the event while serving a 180-day probation sentence after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from drunkenly slapping a man in an Indiana bar earlier this year.
    — Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 4 July 2026
Definition of slapping
Verb
  • The actor says he's become 'hooked' on boxing with the help of a coach.
    — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 30 June 2026
  • And those volunteers have been busy boxing them up and shipping them off for delivers to Venezuela.
    — Steve Maugeri, CBS News, 26 June 2026
Definition of boxing
Verb
  • The other side is smooth and great for prep work like chopping vegetables.
    — Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 1 July 2026
  • So before Game 1, Woodward had been chopping baseballs to get the infielders acclimated.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 24 June 2026
Definition of chopping
Verb
  • Modern readers may take heart in the fact that there are many excellent critics thwacking through the slop—albeit with freelance machetes, on newfangled platforms.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Max Weinberg sat at his set, thwacking his floor tom, while Lahav fiddled with his dials, stalked into the studio to unplug, replug, and then just physically move the microphone closer to the set, then to the side, and then farther away.
    — Peter Ames Carlin, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2025
Definition of thwacking
Verb
  • Larry Hayes, 86, and Bill Moniz, 79, hit the tennis courts in Mountain View three to four times a week — whacking balls across the net as teammates for one to three hours a week.
    — Panashe Matemba-Mutasa, Mercury News, 27 May 2026
  • And the crowd clearly expected that pucks whacking the nets would be at a premium in this series, too.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 May 2026
Definition of whacking
Verb
  • Besides hitting their price target — about $350 per square foot — Talbot and his wife, Marisol, were taken with the modern design with a 14-foot clerestory ceiling.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
  • To the moon All the political developments of the last 24 hours have not stopped stocks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting 53,000 for the first time ever.
    — Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 7 July 2026
Definition of hitting
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.

Browse Nearby Words

canines
caning
canister
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Cite this Entry

“Caning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caning. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on caning

Nglish: Translation of caning for Spanish Speakers

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