as in eavesdropping
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as in gawking
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise
thoughtless drivers pausing on the highway to rubberneck at the accident
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Recent Examples of rubbernecking
Nick Miller, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
Verb
Other tasty-looking ties include Red Bull Salzburg against Porto and, for fans of rubbernecking, Russell Martin’s latest chance to win over Rangers fans comes at home to Genk.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for rubbernecking
Noun
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Only a few other animals, like parrots and apes, have demonstrated a knack for this kind of eavesdropping.—
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The surface can be configured to create intentional radio dead zones, a feature that helps mitigate signal interference and reduces the risk of electronic eavesdropping.—
Verb
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Here, astronomers are gawking at a radio signal that appears crudely on the screen like a crooked game of Pong but turns out to be a line of data repeated every 78 seconds from 600 light-years away.—
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But the cringe-comedy antics of the original NBC series landed far better in Season 3 than in Season 1, once audiences began to truly love the characters instead of just gawking at them.—
Noun
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Engineers used a Deep Trench Isolation Center Cut design to improve pixel separation and reduce signal interference.—
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Byfield’s goal seven minutes later was unsuccessfully challenged for interference by Jets coach Scott Arniel.—
Verb
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Below-average play is often staring you right in the face while catastrophe lurks around the corner.—
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The face in question, below, involves Sherman staring with her mouth agape.—
Verb
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After LaRavia made 10 of 11 shots to introduce himself to fans and Minnesota star Anthony Edwards, the Lakers’ general manager splashed a photo of LaRavia gazing out of a window on the front page of a faux newspaper and printed it on a black T-shirt.—
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In the touching clip, the pair embraced each other while gazing at a sunny, scenic view.—
Noun
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Police have detained several people for questioning, but do not have a suspect in custody.—
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After all, his only experience with real-life interrogators was from the receiving end of their questioning.—
Noun
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That was what led the princess to send her staff away and sneak the BBC crew in for the interview, isolating herself in the face of Bashir’s prying questions.—
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The New Jersey native also teased some new music on the way after some prying from Hudson.—
Cite this Entry
“Rubbernecking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rubbernecking. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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