vacuuming

verb

present participle of vacuum
as in cleaning
to use a vacuum cleaner on (something) in order to remove dirt I vacuumed the living room.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar 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 vacuuming The lander will spend just two hours on Phobos, drilling and vacuuming up at least one-third of an ounce of material, before launching back into space. — Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026 The lander will spend just two hours on Phobos, drilling and vacuuming up at least 10 grams (one-third of an ounce) of material, before launching back into space. — ABC News, 19 Oct. 2026 High gas prices are intensifying inflation and vacuuming up more of Americans’ dollars, yet consumers are still digging deep to spend, powering the economy, at least for now. — Christopher Rugaber, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026 Eliminate potential food sources by sealing trash cans, cleaning up spills immediately, keeping pet food in airtight containers, and regularly mopping or vacuuming your floors. — Louise Parks, Martha Stewart, 8 Oct. 2026 As Mermahn, Kevin McCann is perfectly smug, vacuuming the air from most of his scenes, but the collective orbit of these supporting characters serves to externalize, fuel and eventually resolve the conflict between the two principals. — Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 24 Sep. 2026 Anything that could stir up the dust – such as vacuuming the carpet, sweeping the floor, even just tracking it in on their shoes – could stir up the dust again. — Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026 Vacuum Them Up Get rid of any lovebugs that make it inside your home or on your porch by vacuuming them up with a shop vac. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2026 In time, national security institutions were routinely vacuuming up ordinary police information, and local law enforcement officers were combing through federal intelligence. — Daniel Benjamin, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacuuming
  1. cleaning
  2. brushing
  3. sweeping
  4. scrubbing
  5. washing
Verb
  • There’s always somebody cleaning, a chef, nannies, assistants.
    — Maer Roshan, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Plainly put, consumers buy toothpaste, groceries, and cleaning supplies regardless of macro or micro economic stress.
    — Michael Khouw, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of cleaning
Verb
  • Carefully dig up the mother plant or remove it from the container, brushing soil from clumps of roots or rhizomes.
    — Lauren David, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Oct. 2026
  • In the trailer, the camera pans over to Kristen Bell and Adam Brody’s characters in their bathroom, brushing their teeth in tandem.
    — Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of brushing
Verb
  • The Brewers were able to win 103 games, the most in baseball, and then beat the Padres in four games before sweeping the Dodgers.
    — OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • As of his locker-room interview immediately after the Game 4 sweeping by the Milwaukee Brewers last week, Ohtani still insists on pitching.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of sweeping
Verb
  • The company dispensed with its DEI disclosures to investors, scrubbing any references to goals and resources aimed at boosting diversity at the company.
    — Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Let everything sit on your toilet bowl for a while before scrubbing gently and finally flushing your toilet.
    — Asia London Palomba, The Spruce, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of scrubbing
Verb
  • Airbnb guests can say goodbye to checkout chores like washing dishes, stripping beds and taking out the trash under a new policy announced this week.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • An employee handled dirty utensils and dishes with gloves on and later handled clean dishes with those same gloves without washing hands in between.
    — Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of washing

Browse Nearby Words

vacuumed
vacuuming
vacuums
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Vacuuming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacuuming. Accessed 29 Oct. 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 shindig

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

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
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