shellacking
Americannoun
-
an utter defeat.
a shellacking their team will remember.
-
a sound thrashing.
His father gave him a shellacking for stealing the book.
noun
Etymology
Origin of shellacking
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.
Trade-driven gains for industries such as textiles or jewelry are more than offset, markets-wise, by the shellacking India’s IT outsourcers are taking from the global software selloff.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
It is the prospect of an almighty shellacking that prompts so many of the conversations about Sir Keir's future.
From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025
That’s because Darnold was standing on the other side of the field, wearing a No. 14 Seahawks jersey and a broad grin, as Seattle unleashed a comprehensive shellacking of his former team.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
And the Dodgers looked anything but rested and refreshed in Friday’s 11-4 shellacking by the Toronto Blue Jays, which left them trailing a postseason series for the first time since last fall’s NLDS.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2025
I, meanwhile, stayed home on Euclid Avenue, living upstairs from my mother as another leaden Chicago winter descended, shellacking the trees and sidewalks with ice.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
