- present participle of hose.
hosing
Americannoun
-
an act or instance of being taken advantage of or cheated.
-
an act or instance of being attacked or defeated decisively; drubbing.
Small investors took a hosing in the recent stock-market decline.
Etymology
Origin of hosing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I don't know what possessed me," the drummer grimaces, while trying to insist the hosing "was an act of kindness and love because it was a hot day".
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Firefighters quickly began hosing down the smoking reactor -- "they didn't let the fire spread," Solovyov said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026
Jolie’s father and Nema spent the night of the fire hosing down the house in an attempt to ward off the flames.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2025
Over time, they made progress, hosing off embers and spot fires.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2025
We started walking down the long chamber with all the cages on both sides, and the only other people there were an attendant hosing out the gorilla cage and some woman holding a two-year-old baby.
From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
