shellacking

[shuh-lak-ing]

noun

Slang.

1. an utter defeat.

   a shellacking their team will remember.

2. a sound thrashing.

   His father gave him a shellacking for stealing the book.

shellacking

/ ˈʃɛlækɪŋ, ʃəˈlækɪŋ /

noun

1. slang,  a complete defeat; a sound beating

   anyone who gives a shellacking to their bigger neighbours

Word History and Origins

Origin of shellacking¹

First recorded in 1880–85; shellac + -ing ¹

Idioms and Phrases

see take a shellacking.

Example Sentences

Then, in early 1983, six months out from what was expected to be another shellacking in the US, Jacklin was asked to captain the side.

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Those who predicted a shellacking on the pitch and a visceral uprising in the stands were proven wrong.

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When Dan Sheehan finished off their third try - a thing of real beauty - the temptation was to reach for the record books because it really did feel like an epic shellacking was on its way.

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“We needed that,” he said, “to help us get over that shellacking we took in Game 2.”

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For Scotland, this tournament is a learning curve and after commendable displays in defeats to Bangladesh and West Indies this was a bit of a shellacking.

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Related Words

• beating 
• blow 
• breakdown 
• collapse 
• debacle 
• destruction 
• drubbing 
• embarrassment 
• failure 
• killing 
• loss 
• massacre 
• rout 
• setback 
• thrashing 
• triumph