- present participle of shellac.
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.
Even Curaçao, the smallest country ever to play in the World Cup, bounced back from a 7-1 shellacking at the hands of Germany to secure its first ever point with a draw against Ecuador.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
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
Just not to the extent that players shook hands once India wrapped up their shellacking.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026
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
He once coxed a Washington crew to a humiliating fifteen-length shellacking of California.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
