thrashing

noun

thrash·​ing ˈthra-shiŋ 

plural thrashings

1

: a severe beating or flogging

If a poacher was taken he was given a thrashing as well as being prosecuted with its consequent jail sentence.

—W. Mostyn Thomas

"They called her a little blue ragamuffin, father," said Harry, who ran in looking very angry. "But I have given it to them. They won't insult my sister again. I have given them a thrashing they will remember."

—Anna Sewell

2

: a dominating defeat of an opponent

… after going 6-5 on a tough road trip that concluded with 9-2 and 12-4 thrashings of the Giants last weekend, they were 57-41 …

—Phil Taylor

Examples of thrashing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nurmagomedov earned Saturday’s opportunity by way of a five-round unanimous-decision thrashing of former interim title challenger Cory Sandhagen in August. —Brian Martin, Orange County Register, 18 Jan. 2025

The Chargers will need to go back to the drawing board to determine what went wrong in their thrashing by the Texans. —Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 16 Jan. 2025

On Sunday, Barcelona star Dani Olmo celebrated his team’s 5-2 Supercopa de Espana final thrashing of Clasico rivals Real Madrid in Saudi Arabia. —Dermot Corrigan, The Athletic, 13 Jan. 2025

The Texans advance to the divisional round after a thrashing of the Chargers. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 12 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1799, in the meaning defined at sense 1