as in searching
to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something
he raked repeatedly through his luggage, hoping that in one of the bags he would find his lost passport before his flight's departure
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Recent Examples of raking
The wood jambs supporting your front and back entryways can quickly get coated with pollen during springtime, and mowing and raking the lawn kicks up dust and dirt that settles along the frame.
—
Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2026
Matt McLain added muscle, is now raking On the one hand, McLain adding a dozen pounds of muscle in the offseason seems like an unambiguously positive development.
—Andy Behrens, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Chris Cerveny, co-founder of Just Good Soil, recommends holding off on raking your leaves immediately.
—Tessa Cooper, The Spruce, 25 Feb. 2026
Fleischer recommends waiting until a snowstorm has ended before raking the roof and to never use a ladder in the snow.
—Christina Cush, Architectural Digest, 20 Feb. 2026
Just ask DePaul-area resident Janice Hughes, who claims she was rear-ended by a Coco robot while raking the parkway in front of her home.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
Penny became a right-wing cause célèbre, raking millions of dollars in donations toward his legal defense.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 3 Dec. 2024
Between raking leaves, aerating your lawn, adding grass seed, and more, fall is one of the busiest and most important seasons for maintaining your yard.
—Carly Totten, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Oct. 2024
Besides the pitching edge, the Dodgers’ hitters are raking, with two home runs from Andy Pages and another long ball from Mookie Betts, nine hits and a brief shortening of a 10-2 deficit.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2024
Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2026
Matt McLain added muscle, is now raking On the one hand, McLain adding a dozen pounds of muscle in the offseason seems like an unambiguously positive development.
—Andy Behrens, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Chris Cerveny, co-founder of Just Good Soil, recommends holding off on raking your leaves immediately.
—Tessa Cooper, The Spruce, 25 Feb. 2026
Fleischer recommends waiting until a snowstorm has ended before raking the roof and to never use a ladder in the snow.
—Christina Cush, Architectural Digest, 20 Feb. 2026
Just ask DePaul-area resident Janice Hughes, who claims she was rear-ended by a Coco robot while raking the parkway in front of her home.
—Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
Penny became a right-wing cause célèbre, raking millions of dollars in donations toward his legal defense.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 3 Dec. 2024
Between raking leaves, aerating your lawn, adding grass seed, and more, fall is one of the busiest and most important seasons for maintaining your yard.
—Carly Totten, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Oct. 2024
Besides the pitching edge, the Dodgers’ hitters are raking, with two home runs from Andy Pages and another long ball from Mookie Betts, nine hits and a brief shortening of a 10-2 deficit.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for raking
Verb
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Cops are searching for multiple suspects wearing ski masks last seen fleeing the scene on foot.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
31 Mar. 2026
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With the Heat searching for answers amid its rough stretch, rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis was not part of the roation on Monday.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Meanwhile in Tehran, rescue workers were combing through rubble Friday morning trying to find survivors after overnight strikes there.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
27 Mar. 2026
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And if the idea of combing through your spending history gives you the ick, plug your info into a financial app like Quicken Simplifi.—
Harlan Vaughn,
CNBC,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Last month, cyber stocks fell after Anthropic announced a new code-scanning security tool to Claude.—
Samantha Subin,
CNBC,
27 Mar. 2026
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Psarras spends the majority of his time slinking through space, scanning the highly detailed living room of opulence for the next steps of Tony’s grisly plan (the varied set design, which includes some ingenious touches with translucent walls, is by Ron Gasparinetti) .—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Stop and look around, there's something worth finding.—
Kirah Tabourn,
Condé Nast Traveler,
28 Mar. 2026
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Then finding the players who can execute them has made UConn the sport’s most formidable force.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Raking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/raking. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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