birching

verb

present participle of birch
1
as in whipping
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible students at the private school were once routinely birched for violating the rules

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in licking
to strike repeatedly always a stern disciplinarian, our father birched anyone who talked back

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for birching
  1. whipping
  2. licking
  3. hiding
  4. lashing
  5. slashing
  6. pounding
  7. flogging
  8. battering
Verb
  • Whisk with ¾ cup whole milk and use in any sweet recipe that doesn’t require whipping.
    — Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Aug. 2026
  • At the landing zone, with bullets whipping and cracking around them, Capers—barely clinging to consciousness—refused to board the helicopter until every last man, and his dog’s body, was aboard.
    — Ethan Rocke, Charlotte Observer, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of whipping
Verb
  • One act featured two young women sitting on the stage and licking orange Popsicles (yes, that was the whole act).
    — Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Owners should also watch for licking that is sudden, persistent or severe enough to cause hair loss or skin damage.
    — Lauren Paige Richeson, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of licking
Verb
  • The trio were found hiding in a ditch about 200 yards from where they were pulled over, according to the news release.
    — Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 31 Aug. 2026
  • After six months of war, the deadlock has left the Islamic Republic bitterly divided, while its ultimate arbiter, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, remains in hiding.
    — Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of hiding
Verb
  • Odysseus ended up lashing himself to the mast and ordering his crew to plug their ears with wax.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Vinicius Jr started each of Brazil’s five matches at the World Cup and played a starring role in the group stage, lashing in an excellent goal against Morocco, scoring and assisting against Haiti, and adding a brace against Scotland.
    — Cerys Jones, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of lashing
Verb
  • The startup anticipates slashing its AI token spend by 75%, from $15-20 million to $4-5 million annually, as a result of the AI ban policy.
    — Rachel Wells, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Retailers are slashing their sizing in the GLP-1 era, both in physical stores and online.
    — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of slashing
Verb
  • When your pounding headache is the result of alcohol (or a stomach virus), a pain reliever alone will not fix the problem.
    — Dr. Jill Grimes, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Sarajevans still remember his commands to the Serb gunmen pounding the Bosnian capital in early 1992.
    — Jovana Gec, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of pounding
Verb
  • So, that is one gig at a completely unnecessary addition to the sports calendar, created by corporate interests for the sole intention of flogging products to people who do not really like sport… and another at the Enhanced Games.
    — Matt Slater, New York Times, 23 May 2026
  • In an even more meta moment, Amazon interrupted its own Upfront with actual ads with Summer House star Paige DeSorbo flogging certain items to an increasingly frustrated audience.
    — Peter White, Deadline, 11 May 2026
Definition of flogging
Verb
  • Her boyfriend was never charged, though he was sentenced to probation for battering a police officer about five weeks after Danielle was killed.
    — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Across the country in Hawaii, Hurricane Lala grazed the state over the weekend, battering the islands with heavy rains and winds, but did not make landfall.
    — Peter Weber, TheWeek, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of battering
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.

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birches
birching
bird
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Cite this Entry

“Birching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/birching. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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