Showing results for "shellacking"

• present participle of shellac.

shellacking

American  

[shuh-lak-ing] / ʃəˈlæk ɪŋ /

noun

Slang.

1. an utter defeat.

   a shellacking their team will remember.

2. a sound thrashing.

   His father gave him a shellacking for stealing the book.

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shellacking British  

/ ˈʃɛlækɪŋ, ʃəˈlækɪŋ /

noun

1. slang a complete defeat; a sound beating

   anyone who gives a shellacking to their bigger neighbours

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shellacking Idioms  

1. see take a shellacking.

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Etymology

Origin of shellacking

First recorded in 1880–85; shellac + -ing ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shellacking

Around the same time, England were getting their quadrennial shellacking in Australia.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

The Lakers lost by almost 30 points per game in their four-game series against the Thunder during the regular season, and one of the games was a 43-point shellacking.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026

As the Lions shadowed the first XI's Ashes shellacking, Gay returned scores of 56 not out against the Prime Ministers' XI and 78 against a Cricket Australia XI in Perth.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 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

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

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Related Words

• beating
• blow
• breakdown
• collapse
• debacle
• destruction
• drubbing
• embarrassment
• failure
• killing
• loss
• massacre
• rout
• setback
• thrashing
• triumph

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