give (one) a hammering

give (one) a hammering

1. To thoroughly beat or thrash one. Because my younger brother was always a shy, skinny kid, schoolyard bullies often gave him a hammering.

2. To soundly defeat or best one; to defeat one by a wide margin. Their team's inexperience showed on the pitch today, as the powerful squad from New Zealand really gave them a hammering.

3. To very strongly rebuke, criticize, condemn, or punish one. The principal gave Mark a hammering because of that prank he pulled in class yesterday.

See also: give, hammer

give somebody/get a ˈhammering

(British English, informal) beat somebody/be beaten severely or easily; punish somebody/be punished hard: Real Madrid gave the other team a hammering. ♢ When I was young, I once stole some money from my mother. I got a real hammering when she found out.

See also: get, give, hammer, somebody