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Glite Dictionary
to pelt each other

to pelt each other

6.3
Throw things at each other, often for fun or to hurt
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : tirarse
  • The children spent the afternoon pelting each other with snowballs in the park.

Examples

  • As we boarded the launch, a crewman and our guide pelted each other with handfuls of the brightly colored crepe paper bits.

    Blog text (28)

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

    Fiction book (2000)

  • During the festival, kids delightfully pelting each other with colorful water balloons.

  • They laughed and shrieked joyfully as they began to pelt each other with popcorn.

Synonyms

to pebble
vsto pelt each other
6.8

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

involves people throwing things at one another often playfully or aggressively
to lapidate
vsto pelt each other
  • Offensive
9.9

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

involves people throwing things at one another rather than as formal punishment

How Forceful

to bombard
13 5.4
to pelt each other
6.3
to toss
348 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

pelt + each + other

The overall meaning is directly compositional: 'pelt' (to bombard by throwing) combined with the reciprocal phrase 'each other' yields 'throw objects at one another.' This follows a common verb + reciprocal pattern found across languages, so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Pelt each other comes from the old use of pelt meaning 'to throw hard things like stones'. Imagine people throwing stones, snowballs or food at one another — to pelt someone is to hit them with repeated throws and each other shows both people do it, so the phrase means 'to throw objects at one another', often playfully or aggressively.