as in pierces
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
stabbed the pesky leaf with the tines of the rake
Synonyms & Similar Words
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1
as in punctures
a mark or small hole made by a pointed instrument
the injection left a small stab on her upper arm
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stabs
Danielle Battaglia, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2025
Harrison stabs Prater with the needle and knocks the billionaire out.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Dexter then stabs Prater in the chest and chops his body into pieces.
—Nick Caruso, TVLine, 5 Sep. 2025
The person then stabs it with a long knife.
—Claudia Lauer, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2025
Near the end of the video, the unseen cameraperson flips the notebook to a page containing a diagram of the church and stabs the diagram with a knife.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
After he's caught red-handed, the pilot goes to confront him when the captain stabs him before throwing him overboard.
—Esther Kang, People.com, 26 Dec. 2024
But before Wheeler can kill Jamie, Beth stabs him in the heart.
—Lisa Respers France, CNN, 16 Dec. 2024
Ji-oh stabs Taesang through the heart with a fencing sword.
—Kayti Burt, TIME, 29 Nov. 2024
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Shorter sci-fi stabs meet surging upward flourishes which also link Believe stylistically to disco and Hi-NRG, associating the track with certain gay subcultural histories.
—Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 9 Aug. 2025
While never-ending rounds of press spread into the evening, Monsta X sets a tempo and refuses to waver, cracking jokes and hyping each other up while taking stabs at English.
—Abby Webster, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
The video shows Zarutska sit in a seat in front of Brown, who fixates on her and after several minutes pulls out a knife and stabs her several times in the neck, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
—Danielle Battaglia, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2025
Harrison stabs Prater with the needle and knocks the billionaire out.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Dexter then stabs Prater in the chest and chops his body into pieces.
—Nick Caruso, TVLine, 5 Sep. 2025
The person then stabs it with a long knife.
—Claudia Lauer, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2025
Near the end of the video, the unseen cameraperson flips the notebook to a page containing a diagram of the church and stabs the diagram with a knife.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
After he's caught red-handed, the pilot goes to confront him when the captain stabs him before throwing him overboard.
—Esther Kang, People.com, 26 Dec. 2024
But before Wheeler can kill Jamie, Beth stabs him in the heart.
—Lisa Respers France, CNN, 16 Dec. 2024
Ji-oh stabs Taesang through the heart with a fencing sword.
—Kayti Burt, TIME, 29 Nov. 2024
Noun
That did actually happen, but Van Sant and screenwriter Austin Kolodny make some additional stabs at turning Fred into the spine of the picture, structuring the movie around his broadcasts — a filmmaking convention that doesn’t really bring anything new to this particular story.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2025
Shorter sci-fi stabs meet surging upward flourishes which also link Believe stylistically to disco and Hi-NRG, associating the track with certain gay subcultural histories.
—Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 9 Aug. 2025
While never-ending rounds of press spread into the evening, Monsta X sets a tempo and refuses to waver, cracking jokes and hyping each other up while taking stabs at English.
—Abby Webster, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stabs
Verb
-
And who the f--- pierces a 12 year old?—
Catherine Santino,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The onboard video from the Racing Bulls car reveals Lawson’s split-second oversteer snap correction played a big part in the collision that left both with punctures.—
Alex Kalinauckas,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Battery systems based on it are also potentially safer (less prone to thermal runaway, may handle punctures better).—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
However, the move is not going as planned with Hungary and Slovakia resisting attempts to wean their economies of Russian oil.—
Gaurav Sharma,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
-
Another person advised the woman to keep a record of all her ex-boyfriend’s attempts to contact her amid the dispute over the necklace.—
Latoya Gayle,
PEOPLE,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Haggard jabs Baird over mailers The race is already tense.—
Kayla Dwyer,
IndyStar,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Ali was scoring plenty with jabs and flurries, but his attempts to land big punches mostly fell flat.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
16 Sep. 2025
-
But as any fan of either show will tell you, both are adept at delivering emotional gut-punches that have been known to leave viewers in tears.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
How To Play Wordle Wordle is a daily word puzzle game where your goal is to guess a hidden five-letter word in six tries or fewer.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Sporting Kansas City has won one game in its last nine tries.—
Daniel Sperry,
Kansas City Star,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Keep scrolling to shop some of my favorite under-$10 picks.—
Izzy Baskette,
PEOPLE,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Murphy won't come cheap, but a package headlined by Kuminga and picks would definitely be a good starting point for New Orleans.—
Noah Camras,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
These nation-wide country-goes-city celebrations of agricultural bounty, mechanical innovations and skilled handcrafts have been drawing crowds since the first fair was held in upstate New York in 1841.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stabs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stabs. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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