scuffling

verb

present participle of scuffle
1
as in shuffling
to move heavily or clumsily she scuffled along in shoes that were much too large for her

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in wrestling
to seize and attempt to unbalance one another for the purpose of achieving physical mastery the burglar and the homeowner briefly scuffled together in the dark

Synonyms & Similar 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 scuffling But after scuffling for most of the road trip, Los Angeles broke out Sunday for a 6-1 win in the rubber match of a three-game set against the Detroit Tigers. — Katie Woo, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2026 The addition of Adams and Goodman onto the roster bring some intrigue for a club that has been severely scuffling. — Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 25 Aug. 2026 The two dogs began scuffling and Molloy allegedly pulled out a gun and fired a shot, killing Luke. — Naveen Dhaliwal, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026 The room was thick with the din of 1,400 men packed inside a stone box—their voices, the sound of feet scuffling on the floor, and their hands moving restlessly atop the tables, echoing. — Literary Hub, 27 July 2026 Protesters were seen pushing through police barricades and scuffling with security personnel as authorities attempted to stop the march. — Priyanka Salve,raksha Murali, CNBC, 23 July 2026 Despite Chisholm’s late heroics, the Yankees’ scuffling offense certainly could have made things easier, as there were a few other opportunities to tack on runs. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 20 July 2026 Tesla made that evolution, while Lucid is scuffling and Fisker never did. — Greg Migliore, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026 Videos showed youths running through the event and scuffling with police before officers shooed attendees away. — Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 13 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scuffling
  1. shuffling
  2. wrestling
  3. stomping
  4. fighting
  5. stumbling
Verb
  • The bull riders—including the current champion, 20-year-old John Crimber—stand with their cowboy hat over their heart, boots shuffling nervously in the dirt.
    — Christine Lennon, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Aug. 2026
  • There must have been a hundred of us there, circling the truck, clambering onto its hood, shuffling and shimmying and twerking with abandon.
    — Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of shuffling
Verb
  • Based on its trailer, Wild Horse Nine, which premieres in competition on September 3, seems to find McDonagh back in his sweet spot, helming a pitch-black comedy about two charismatic men wrestling with their dark pasts.
    — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 1 Sep. 2026
  • In the trailer for the show, the cast gets physical (literally), wrestling over clothes in a challenge.
    — Lindsay Kimble, PEOPLE, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of wrestling
Verb
  • Their father, Jamie, always seemed to be around, smiling and shouting and stomping his feet.
    — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Hello Kitty is stomping back to McDonald's in full kaiju form.
    — Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of stomping
Verb
  • As a result, the Fed’s attention is now fixed on fighting inflation, instead of the other part of its dual mandate, namely supporting the labor market.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2026
  • For France, long accustomed to wildfires along arid stretches of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, the devastation in Le Porge has yielded rare consensus that its fire safety system is not up to fighting mega-fires brought on by climate change.
    — Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of fighting
Verb
  • Unlike other festivals, where audiences can be more forgiving, stumbling out of the gate at Venice can prove impossible for a contender to recover from.
    — Nate Jones, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Analysis from Zeki Data shows that where OpenAI and Anthropic are making gains in the AI talent market, Google DeepMind (and to some extent Meta) are stumbling.
    — Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of stumbling

Browse Nearby Words

scuffles
scuffling
scuffs
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Cite this Entry

“Scuffling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scuffling. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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