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.
Firefighters quickly began hosing down the smoking reactor -- "they didn't let the fire spread," Solovyov said.
From Barron's • Apr. 25, 2026
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
He kept hosing: “I could see progress from the helicopters.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 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.
