Idioms

shellacking

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shellacking

1. slang A severe physical beating or thrashing. The school bullies gave Tom a shellacking after he insulted them in the hallway.
2. slang A decisive defeat or domination, as in sports. We knew we didn't have any chance of winning the game, so our goal was just to avoid a complete shellacking.
See also: shellac
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*shellacking

 
1. Fig. a physical beating. (*Typically: get ~; take ~; give someone ~.) The boxer took a shellacking and lost the fight. I got a shellacking when I broke the window.
2. Fig. a beating—as in sports. (*Typically: get ~; take ~; give someone ~.) Our team played well, but got a shellacking anyway. I practiced my tennis game so I wouldn't take a shellacking in the tournament.
See also: shellac
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

shellacking

n. a beating. We gave them a shellacking they’ll never forget.
See also: shellac
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
See also:
References in periodicals archive
The relatively poor Minnesota Twins are scheduled to visit Yankee Stadium, where they will undergo a ritual shellacking. But the Twins have other plans.
It happens every spring: Baseball's invisible hand is stuck in red tape. (Rant)
GEOFF HOBSON, of the Cincinnati Enquirer, after the Bengals took a 41-10 shellacking from Jacksonville: "The Bengals may have lost the game but they did win a prize for the most original costume on Halloween--they showed up disguised as an NFL franchise."
COACHES' CORNER
Despite the shellacking the GOP took in the November general election, Lott is unlikely to change his mind and allow a vote on the nomination.
Hormel's back for more
If your first basket seems a little out of shape, prop it up with bricks or any heavy objects after shellacking; once the finish has dried the basket will hold this shape.
Make a pine needle basket: coil needles from the forest floor to create a Native American art form
Police Commissioner Chester Williams, describing the month of June as 'shellacking' as it relates to murders, says nonetheless an objective observer would 'concede to the fact many of the murders in June were things that the police had no control over'.
But speaking on a television programme here on Monday night, Williams acknowledged that in the month of June 'we took a shellacking. That is the truth.
BELIZE-CRIME-Police Commissioner acknowledges being 'shellacked' during the month of June
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