limbering (up)

verb

present participle of limber (up)
as in breaking in

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for limbering (up)
  1. breaking in
  2. enforcing
  3. reinforcing
Verb
  • The employee watched the security footage and found that nobody was breaking in.
    — Theresa Clift, Sacbee.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • History is only half of the equation here, as both the Tigers and Gators are breaking in new coaches who just as easily could have been on opposite sidelines.
    — Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of breaking in
Verb
  • In return, Washington must accept that its partners would be joining a defensive maritime mission—not enforcing the naval blockade or entering the war against Iran.
    — Dana Stroul, Foreign Affairs, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The executive order was quickly met with a flurry of lawsuits, which resulted in a preliminary injunction blocking the USPS from enforcing any new rules in response to Trump’s order.
    — Philip Wang, Time, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of enforcing
Verb
  • The event highlights Greece’s efforts to enhance its maritime strike capabilities while reinforcing its strategic partnership with Israel amid an increasingly complex security environment in the Eastern Mediterranean.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The proposal came days after Kim Jong Un's powerful sister visited front-line areas where North Korean troops are reinforcing the border.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of reinforcing
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

limbered (up)
limbering (up)
limberness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Limbering (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/limbering%20%28up%29. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of Pyrrhic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All