hosing
Americannoun
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an act or instance of being taken advantage of or cheated.
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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.
Images from the scene showed an emergency team hosing down the landing gear on a Loganair ATR 72 aircraft, which had been due to depart at 10:05.
From BBC • Dec. 26, 2025
Some have hired professional remediation firms while others are throwing out damaged toys and furniture, scrubbing walls and hosing down playground equipment themselves in the hopes of being able to welcome children back.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2025
In Los Angeles County, local news showed those near the Hughes fire hosing down their homes and yards with water and others rushing to evacuate neighbourhoods.
From BBC • Jan. 22, 2025
“All wasteful water use such as hosing down driveways and impervious surfaces, allowing water to flow unattended and using water in a grossly inefficient manner, is prohibited,” the Southwest Florida Water Management District website says.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 7, 2023
He goes back and forth on the docks, hosing down the charter boats, once the tourists and fish are gone.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
