licking
1
6.5
- noun
- /ˈlɪkɪŋ/
- Informal
:
paliza
- Didn't she ever tell you about all those lickings she got for things she didn't do?
Examples
-
So anyway, I've left licking my wounds then wasn't it bad bad defeat took an absolute hammer and nearly killed me.
-
And no matter how many lickings he had given me, I hadn't ever hated him before either, because in his way he was good to me when I was coming along without any dad of my own—as good to me in his way as she was.
Fiction book (1992) -
You can do that, you can do that now, but back then, we just, we just took our lickings.
-
The team suffered a humiliating licking in the championship game, losing by twenty points.
-
After a series of tough matches, the coach admitted the players took their fair share of lickings this season.
-
They learned from their licking last year and are determined to perform better in the upcoming tournament.
Synonyms
276
4.2
Hitting a person many times as punishment or violence
275
2.5
A loss in a game, match, or election that means you do not win
8
9.1
A strong beating in a fight or a big loss in a game
6
7.7
A big defeat in a game or competition
5
5.6
A heavy defeat in a game or contest that embarrasses the losers
5
6.6
A heavy defeat in a game or contest
4
8.1
A hard hit given to someone as punishment
4
7.9
A very complete loss in a game or contest
3
5.4
A heavy defeat in a game or contest
2
7.4
A very strong defeat, usually in a game or election, leaving the loser embarrassed
A severe beating that someone gets as punishment
Antonyms
Idioms
1
9.2
To keep going without giving up after facing many hard times
How Decisive
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Licking comes from the common verb lick, which originally means 'to use the tongue'. People began to use lick as a strong picture for 'beat' or 'defeat', so a licking came to mean a heavy loss or a physical beating.