braying

verb

present participle of bray
as in grinding
to reduce to fine particles bray the seeds using a mortar and pestle

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 braying Vanessa Bonet of the installation art group Dedo Vabo watched over a mission-control monitor deck, as the buzzing craft climbed into room full of braying hippos in rumpled suits. — Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2026 The first of the three legs in an inaugural fundraiser called the Wagora Bike Ride unspools along rocky red clay roads and through rutted jeep tracks, past braying herds of zebra and startled warthogs. — Tom Vanderbilt, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Mar. 2026 The need to placate a braying mob of X posters desperate to see Lemon in chains does not constitute an emergency. — Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 30 Jan. 2026 Shortly after the New Year's ball drops (only once) in New York City, the Zohran Mamdani era will begin in the Big Apple and the political horses will be braying at the gates to start the 2026 midterm election season in earnest. — James Powel, USA Today, 31 Dec. 2025 The cool, quiet spring air is punctuated only by Kasbah’s small pack of mules braying nearby, and the tinkling of the riad’s fountain. — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 10 Oct. 2025 As the insignias are cut off his uniform and his sword broken, Dreyfus (played by Louis Garrel) loudly declares his innocence, both to his brothers-in-arms and to the braying public outside the gates. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for braying
  1. grinding
  2. pounding
  3. crushing
  4. beating
Verb
  • The banking business model is built atop an army of young analysts (and, in time, associates and VPs) grinding through deals.
    — Ryan Craig, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Every woman, child, and man alive was out here grinding all day every day except on Lincoln’s Birthday in death-trap packing plants controlled by a five-man syndicate called the Beef Trust.
    — Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of grinding
Verb
  • Keeber’s eldest son is still pounding the pavement looking for work as employers pull back entry-level hiring.
    — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Video captured by a tourist on board a boat in northern Botswana showed the heart-pounding moment the vessel had to outrun a charging hippo.
    — Dennis Romero, NBC news, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of pounding
Verb
  • The reason is that protesters fear that the Republic of Georgia will continue following an authoritarian path similar to Russia’s, crushing their hopes and dreams of being another Western-style democracy that is a member of NATO and the EU.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Because what action fan doesn't appreciate a good catapult crushing?
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of crushing
Verb
  • Even had Guardiola stayed on, City would probably be playing a more direct brand of football next season, with players more suited to beating a man and covering ground than playing a thousand million passes.
    — Sam Lee, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2026
  • He was initially handed a 3 1/2-year sentence in 2022 when he was convicted of beating a police officer after being taken off a train for causing a disturbance.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of beating

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Cite this Entry

“Braying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/braying. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of braying for Spanish Speakers

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