THRASHING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does thrashing mean? 

• THRASHING (noun)
  The noun THRASHING has 2 senses:

1. a sound defeat

2. the act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated blows

  Familiarity information: THRASHING used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THRASHING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sound defeat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

debacle; drubbing; slaughter; thrashing; trouncing; walloping; whipping

Hypernyms ("thrashing" is a kind of...):

defeat; licking (an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest)

Derivation:

thrash (beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated blows

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

beating; drubbing; lacing; licking; thrashing; trouncing; whacking

Hypernyms ("thrashing" is a kind of...):

corporal punishment (the infliction of physical injury on someone convicted of committing a crime)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thrashing"):

flagellation; flogging; lashing; tanning; whipping (beating with a whip or strap or rope as a form of punishment)

flagellation (beating as a source of erotic or religious stimulation)

Derivation:

thrash (give a thrashing to; beat hard)

 Context examples 

But one day the master sprang from the carriage, whip in hand, and gave the stone-throwers a thrashing.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I noticed a black discoloration, still faintly visible, under Johansen’s eye, a mark of the thrashing he had received a few nights before from the sailor.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This dog was thrashing about in a death-struggle, directly on the trail, and Buck passed around him without stopping.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

After some time of this, François threw down the club, thinking that Buck feared a thrashing.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Both men were wounded, and he was thrashing them both for having disobeyed his orders and crippled themselves in advance of the hunting season.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

At half after five I went below to set the cabin table, but I hardly knew what I did, for my eyes and my brain were filled with the vision of a man, white-faced and trembling, comically like a bug, clinging to the thrashing gaff.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)