Synonyms of licking

licking 1 of 2

noun

ˈli-kiŋ 

as in beating

failure to win a contest

our team took a licking last night, but we'll get them next time

Synonyms & Similar Words

• beating
• defeat
• loss
• whipping
• trimming
• plastering
• setback
• overthrow
• rout
• drubbing
• trouncing
• shellacking
• failure
• lump
• collapse
• upset
• fiasco
• flop
• debacle
• shutout
• lurch
• washout
• nonsuccess
• fizzle
• whitewash

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• success
• victory
• win
• triumph
• achievement
• accomplishment
• sweep
• runaway
• landslide
• blowout
• romp
• cakewalk
• walkover
• walkaway

licking

2 of 2

verb

present participle of lick

1

as in pounding

to strike repeatedly

your father will lick you good if he hears you using swear words

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pounding
• hiding
• whipping
• lashing
• slapping
• beating
• battering
• doing
• knocking
• hitting
• pelting
• attacking
• punching
• thumping
• spanking
• slamming
• smashing
• assaulting
• mauling
• smacking
• batting
• chopping
• pummeling
• bashing
• hammering
• lathering
• raiding
• thrashing
• flogging
• switching
• swiping
• paddling
• whacking
• clubbing
• punching out
• currying
• working over
• tanning
• bludgeoning
• basting
• slating
• lambasting
• slogging
• storming
• fibbing
• boxing
• buffeting
• whopping
• lacing
• walloping
• drubbing
• tromping
• belting
• wounding
• messing (up)
• roughing (up)
• threshing
• belaboring
• whupping
• cracking
• whaling
• swatting
• birching
• pommeling
• rushing
• pasting
• beating up on
• bunging up
• strapping
• thwacking
• socking
• descending (on or upon)
• clobbering
• assailing
• cuffing
• jumping (on)
• clouting
• busting
• cudgeling
• laying on
• flagellating
• whamming
• pouncing (on or upon)
• scourging
• caning
• lacerating
• lamming
• besetting
• mutilating
• whomping
• leathering
• goring
• maiming
• mangling
• pistol-whipping
• horsewhipping
• blackjacking
• rawhiding
• fustigating
• cowhiding

2

as in defeating

to achieve a victory over

he's determined to do everything he can to lick the cancer

Synonyms & Similar Words

• defeating
• overcoming
• mastering
• taking
• beating
• getting
• stopping
• conquering
• dispatching
• subduing
• surmounting
• trimming
• winning (against)
• prevailing (over)
• succeeding
• getting around
• upending
• getting the better of
• triumphing (over)
• burying
• besting
• doing down
• overmatching
• finishing
• worsting
• overbearing
• whipping
• crushing
• slaughtering
• sweeping
• skunking
• knocking for a loop
• creaming
• annihilating
• scoring
• thrashing
• flattening
• exceeding
• clobbering
• surpassing
• capping
• topping
• smoking
• blowing out
• skinning
• overwhelming
• edging (out)
• pipping
• breaking
• excelling
• bombing
• trouncing
• blowing away
• upsetting
• waxing
• subjugating
• nosing out
• vanquishing
• routing
• walloping
• shellacking
• drubbing
• flourishing
• transcending
• outdoing
• overthrowing
• knocking over
• overpowering
• unseating
• knocking off
• eclipsing
• outshining
• bettering
• outstripping
• acing (out)
• snowing under
• outdistancing
• overtopping
• outfighting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• losing (to)
• falling
• going down
• giving up
• failing
• collapsing
• folding
• going under
• flopping
• washing out
• flunking

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of licking

Noun

Becker advises watching for excessive licking, especially of the paws, drooling, skin irritation, or unusual lethargy. — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 11 Apr. 2026

March has a wide variety of loadouts, from sleek two-in-ones to rugged portables that'll take a licking and keep on ticking. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 20 Mar. 2026

Verb

Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, admitted to licking the straw and returning it to the vending machine while recording the act for his online followers. — CNN Money, 30 July 2026

That means no tasting cookie dough made with raw eggs, no licking brownie batter off the beaters, and no homemade Caesar dressing made with uncooked yolks. — Angela Haupt, Time, 23 July 2026