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

The band Welles scored a gig at Bonnaroo in 2017, released a few EPs and a full album in 2018, and toured a bunch, but the world wasn’t especially interested in grunge-metal thrashings. —David Browne, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2025

Notre Dame won three of those games — the 2010 Sun Bowl, a 2012 thrashing in Chicago and a close game in South Bend, Indiana in 2016. —Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2025

Arsenal were the defending champions for the defeat by Sunderland in 1953, with the thrashing at Roker Park meaning the London club — managed at the time by Tom Whittaker — failed to win any of their first eight league games of that campaign. —Will Jeanes, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2025

Should the sawfish run into one, the crew would surely see the thrashing. —Jack Prator, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1799, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for thrashing

• ashing
• bashing
• caching
• cashing
• clashing
• crashing
• dashing
• flashing
• gnashing
• hashing
• lashing
• mashing