noun
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a beating with a cane as a punishment
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informal a severe defeat
Etymology
Origin of caning
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.
Brooks decided to resign as a matter of honor, although he asserted that the House had no right to punish him since the caning had been a personal matter.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026
“Miracle on 34th Street” probably was the first movie to give the commercialism of the holidays a stiff caning as we watch mega-department stores Gimbel’s and Macy’s try to outdo each other in Christmas sales.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2022
In 1911, about 30 pupils from Bigyn School walked out in protest at the "unjustified" caning of a fellow boy.
From BBC • Oct. 10, 2021
If Sietsema gave a brutal caning to a new spot you’d probably look askance if you found out that he owned a place across the street.
From Fox News • Dec. 31, 2018
The next one had on it: Why has south eastern Alaska so many caning factories?
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
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.
