Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A beating, thrashing, or spanking.
  • noun A severe loss or defeat.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The adhesion of textile fibers (cotton) to any surface in the process of manufacture.
  • noun The act of one who licks.
  • noun A beating; a thrashing.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A lapping with the tongue.
  • noun Colloq. or Low A flogging or castigation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun slang A severe beating.
  • noun slang A great loss or defeat.
  • verb Present participle of lick.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest
  • noun the act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated blows

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • When he was taken out of the plaster, he was still denied that instinctive pleasure which all animals take in licking their wounds, for shrewdly arranged bandages were wrapped and buckled on him.

    CHAPTER XXX 2010

  • Pretty good for takin 'a licking from a guy with my reputation.

    The Mexican 2010

  • I imagine much wound-licking is going on and the long-term damage remains to be seen.

    stonetable.org » RaceFail 09 2009

  • Which I guess is good, because considering the amount of garlic I ate tonight, the odds of anyone else getting in licking range are pretty slim.

    May 19th, 2009 matociquala 2009

  • I imagine much wound-licking is going on and the long-term damage remains to be seen.

    stonetable.org » 2009 » March 2009

  • Unless you call licking it off your breasts kinky.

    Thieves Like Us Starr Ambrose 2010

  • My friend took him to the vet and he's on antibiotics now, and now that the stitches are out and the bandagesare off he's losing interest in licking his paws as much.

    Mint Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies 2006

  • Blockers locked arms and took a licking from the defenders trying to break the chain to reach the ball-carrier.

    USATODAY.com 2005

  • Boot-licking is not entertainment in my opinion, so I was ready to switch the channel -- but William Shatner started the show (WHAT?!?) as a comedian.

    View from the Northern Border Michael Evans 2005

  • Boot-licking is not entertainment in my opinion, so I was ready to switch the channel -- but William Shatner started the show (WHAT?!?) as a comedian.

    Archive 2005-07-03 Michael Evans 2005

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