impale

They evolved near the base of the ant family tree and sported sharp, sickle-shaped tusks that may have slammed upward to impale other insects.

From Science Magazine ● May 23, 2019

In any case, it’s an environment that you move around in, not some map you impale with little pins.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 30, 2018

Some female chimpanzees sharpen sticks with their teeth and use them to impale bush babies for food.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2018

“As soon as you impale that apple on the nail, decay begins,” Viancour says.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 19, 2017

Annabeth stepped around random bristles sharp enough to impale her foot, and clusters of...well, not rocks exactly.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Garon impales a wedge of red oak on an easel-like steel framework, while Kelner makes “Strip Mall Landscapes” that distill what the suburb-raised artist’s statement calls his “natural world.”

From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2021

The Doctors Dr. Ordon’s coronavirus diagnosis and road to recovery; a toothbrush impales child; children’s teeth reveal emotional trauma; instant eye de-puffer; hospice care; liver cancer risk.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2020

But suck it up, because next is a pure songwriting masterclass in “Shrike,” which is titled after a bird that impales insects on thorns.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 4, 2019

“Emperor of Mongolia, Emperor of China,” he roars, “I will be Emperor of the world!”–and impales a map with his sword.

From Time ● Dec. 11, 2014

At last the seer it reaches, him impales With its sharp horns: but valiant is the seer— He grasps its crest and fights without a fear.

From Babylonian and Assyrian Literature by Anonymous

That’s when the Yankees impaled themselves on their pinstripes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024

Local fire department personnel and state police responded early Saturday to find the animal not impaled on the structure but unable to get its belly and rear legs over the top.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 1, 2022

The emergency services managed to free him before he was transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for surgery, still impaled by the tine.

From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2021

O’Connor, as I must call her, was in story after story all there, occupying the mind and the whole life of a character who was as solidly on the page as if impaled on it.

From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021

I was walking along a street one afternoon when I saw a piece of magazine impaled against a fence of cacti.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

An American, 47, reportedly tried to climb over a fence in Piazza del Colosseo, presumably to get a closer look at the Colosseum, before falling and impaling himself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2025

The new 0.6-mile route replaces one general traffic lane of West Marginal Way Southwest with waist-high concrete dividers for the two-way bike lane, along with yellow-and-black steel attenuators that prevent drivers from impaling their cars.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 24, 2023

The insect-eating birds have beaks like swords, appropriate for stabbing and impaling insects.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

The Mind Flayer is moments away from impaling El and the gate has to be shut down.

From Washington Post ● May 27, 2022

When the railroad police came through the train, impaling the haystacks to flush out stowaways, the trainers packed the boys into tack trunks.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand