- present participle of hose.
hosing
Americannoun
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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.
Another instance included allegedly hosing down a congregant’s car.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Firefighters quickly began hosing down the smoking reactor -- "they didn't let the fire spread," Solovyov said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026
In between matches, hard-working staff are hosing down the courts to cool the sand.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026
It was a life’s work, and Lubanski stood outside the building hosing it down until the building next door caught fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025
More were at work on their boats, polishing brass, sitting on deck splicing ropes, hosing down the sails.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
