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🦊 Animal skin 🥎 To throw repeatedly 🌧️ To fall hard
to pelt

to pelt

12 5.5
To throw things repeatedly at a person or place
  • verb
  • /pɛlt/
translation icon : bombardear con
  • Three of the giant monkeys were pelting him with sticks and small pebbles.
  • pelted with stones

I'm on the South side of our living fence and I'm just getting pelted by really cold wind.

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Examples

  • Try thinking for yourselves before you pelt an innocent man with cigarettes!

    Clerks (1994)

  • In Kaohsiung, candidate Su Chiu-chen and his supporters pelted a statue of Chiang Kai-shek with eggs.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Try thinking for yourself before you pelt an innocent man with cigarettes.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • They pelt them with flowers.

    Respect (2021)

  • The mob closed in and started pelting the two with rocks.

  • Some of the children would throw cans at her and pelt her with spit wads.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Boys and girls both scrambled into the water and began pelting each other with mud.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • The crowd throws cigarettes at Dante, pelting him in the face.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The fans pelted the bus with bricks, stones, and debris, shattering its windows and injuring several players.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The angry crowd began to pelt the protesters with rocks and bottles.

Synonyms

to pound
vsto pelt
225 1.3

To hit something again and again very hard

focuses on throwing or bombarding rather than mainly striking impact
to batter
vsto pelt
187 3.5

To hit something many times so it becomes damaged

includes repeated attack by throwing as well as striking
to harass
vsto pelt
41 4.4

Attack an enemy again and again in small ways to wear them down

is more about physical bombardment rather than prolonged pressure or harassment
to pepper
vsto pelt
20 5.5

To hit something with many small things or to ask someone many quick questions

is close but includes larger or fewer objects as well
to bombard
vsto pelt
13 5.4

To attack something repeatedly by throwing things like stones or bombs

is similar but can also mean informal repeated throwing without weapons
to harry
vsto pelt
2 9.1

To attack towns or villages again and again, causing damage and fear

is narrower, describing mainly repeated physical throwing or bombardment
to pebble
vsto pelt
6.8

To throw small stones at someone or something, often many times

is broader, applying to throwing many kinds of objects repeatedly
to fusillade
vsto pelt
  • Literature
9.9

To fire a quick series of shots at someone or something

covers repeated hitting or throwing more generally, not only rapid fire
to lapidate
vsto pelt
  • Offensive
9.9

To throw stones at someone as a punishment or part of a ceremony

is like this action but is not limited to ritual or punishment throwing

Antonyms

to protect
∞ 1.0

To keep someone or something safe from harm

to defend
∞ 1.3

To protect people and things from attack or harm

Phrasal Verbs

to pelt down
  • Informal
1 7.2

To run or move very quickly without control

to pelt with snowballs
  • UK
1 5.6

Throw many snowballs at a person or thing, usually hard

to pelt along
  • Informal
8.0

Move very fast along a street or path

to pelt each other
6.3

Throw things at each other, often for fun or to hurt

How Forceful

to bombard
13 5.4
to pelt
12 5.5
to hurl
53 3.6
to throw
∞ 1.0
to toss
348 1.0

Surface Forms

pelt infinitive
pelted past
pelted past participle
pelting present participle
pelts third person singular

Etymology

The word pelt meaning to throw things comes from the same old idea of 'striking' or 'hitting' and you can remember it by picturing people 'pelting' someone with stones or snowballs, hitting them again and again. So to pelt someone is to attack or bombard them with many thrown objects.