as in defeat
failure to win a contest
took a terrible drubbing in last night's basketball game
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in pounding
to strike repeatedly
a crowd was drubbing the purse snatcher when the police arrived on the scene
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in whipping
to defeat by a large margin
we drubbed our traditional football rivals so badly that it was basically no contest
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of drubbing
American Statesman Staff, Austin American Statesman, 23 Feb. 2026
South Grand Prairie smothers Richardson to move on South Grand Prairie got 19 points from Janae Johnson to lead the Warriors to a 41-26 drubbing of Richardson in a Class 6A Division I bi-district game on Monday.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Feb. 2026
Kaapo Kakko, Mikael Granlund, Sebastian Aho and Joel Kiviranta all found the back of the net twice during the team's drubbing of the host country.
—Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 14 Feb. 2026
For another, this drubbing, unlike many previous ones, was triggered not by fears of a bubble but rather concern that AI is on the verge of supplanting the business models of a wide swathe of companies that doomsayers have long predicted were at risk.
—Brody Ford, Fortune, 5 Feb. 2026
The team was soundly defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, including a 40-point drubbing in the decisive Game 6.
—Sam Vecenie, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
But Darnold struggled in the Vikings’ final two games, including a 27-9 drubbing by the Rams in his playoff debut.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 1 Feb. 2026
The Penguins scored four times in the second period, quickly turning a tie game into a drubbing.
—Kalen Lumpkins, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026
Bronny James provided some of the few Lakers highlights in the team’s worst loss of the season — a 129-99 drubbing by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday — to turn an emotional homecoming for his father into a happy return for the 21-year-old.
—Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 25 Sep. 2025
Noun
After a pair of one-run wins to start the series, Texas A&M baseball left no doubt in Sunday's 7-1 drubbing of Penn.
—American Statesman Staff, Austin American Statesman, 23 Feb. 2026
South Grand Prairie smothers Richardson to move on South Grand Prairie got 19 points from Janae Johnson to lead the Warriors to a 41-26 drubbing of Richardson in a Class 6A Division I bi-district game on Monday.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Feb. 2026
Kaapo Kakko, Mikael Granlund, Sebastian Aho and Joel Kiviranta all found the back of the net twice during the team's drubbing of the host country.
—Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 14 Feb. 2026
For another, this drubbing, unlike many previous ones, was triggered not by fears of a bubble but rather concern that AI is on the verge of supplanting the business models of a wide swathe of companies that doomsayers have long predicted were at risk.
—Brody Ford, Fortune, 5 Feb. 2026
The team was soundly defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, including a 40-point drubbing in the decisive Game 6.
—Sam Vecenie, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
But Darnold struggled in the Vikings’ final two games, including a 27-9 drubbing by the Rams in his playoff debut.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 1 Feb. 2026
The Penguins scored four times in the second period, quickly turning a tie game into a drubbing.
—Kalen Lumpkins, Chicago Tribune, 30 Jan. 2026
Bronny James provided some of the few Lakers highlights in the team’s worst loss of the season — a 129-99 drubbing by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday — to turn an emotional homecoming for his father into a happy return for the 21-year-old.
—Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
Verb
The mighty Mariners, who mashed five solo home runs at raucous T-Mobile Park, clinched their title by drubbing Major League Baseball’s doormat, aka the Colorado Rockies, 9-2.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 25 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drubbing
Noun
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For Jorgen Strand Larsen, that is somewhat true, having played well in most of his six games, including scoring twice on his home debut in the 3-2 defeat by Burnley last month.—
Matt Woosnam,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
-
The Wizards only lost one game to a Colorado Class 5A opponent all year, a 47-45 defeat to Air Academy back in December.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Using traditional Ukrainian folklore songs, voiceover plus pounding music, the stakes these young people confront become clearly apparent.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Everything around him pounding in its pulse, the song of the world thronging in all its discord.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Taylor also weighed in on keeping her cool on stage when things go wrong, such as embracing her wig flying off and whipping it around her head, the proper form for double-dutching and having patience in Hollywood.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
26 Feb. 2026
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Though both storms are similar — with a major storm system lingering over the region for over a day and whipping the region with merciless hurricane-level winds, driving inch after inch of wet snow — what made the 1978 storm so devastating was the apparent suddenness of its arrival.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Mavs rookie Cooper Flagg was assessed the first technical foul of his NBA career during Dallas’ loss to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.—
R.J. Coyle,
Dallas Morning News,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Detroit is in the middle of a rough patch with four straight losses, but still holds the East’s top record at 45-18.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The spotless streets are polished nightly by the feet of families licking ice cream.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
10 Mar. 2026
-
On April 30, 2025, the dog was reportedly licking its tail and lethargic.—
Staff Report,
Hartford Courant,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
After coalition forces began bombing Iraqi positions in January 1991, part of Iraqi troops’ response was to release millions of barrels of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.—
Michael Christopher Low,
The Conversation,
5 Mar. 2026
-
In 1999, President Bill Clinton continued bombing Kosovo for two weeks after the 60-day period had expired without securing congressional authorization.—
Noah Feldman,
Twin Cities,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
You are brought to your senses, this time by squawking and the rapid beating of wings.—
Addie Citchens,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
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Meanwhile the Tritons’ men’s team was still talking Sunday of the five-second, court-length dash that resulted in Jaden Vance’s buzzer-beating, game-winning layin to give UCSD a 64-63 win at UC Santa Barbara.—
Bill Center,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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And yet, Trump has also managed to avoid complex questions about those issues — the most pressing before his administration — and despite Democrats and some of his own supporters lashing out over them.—
Kevin Rector,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Mar. 2026
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Noem and her chief adviser Corey Lewandowski -- who is reportedly also departing DHS -- both had a knack for lashing out, yelling and berating staff that crossed them, according to sources.—
Luke Barr,
ABC News,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Drubbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drubbing. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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