dousingn.1
/ˈdaʊsɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈdaʊsɪŋ/, /ˈdaʊzɪŋ/ The action or an act of pouring water or other liquid on a person or thing; an immersion in liquid; a splashing, a drenching.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > [noun] > an instance of
dousinga1614
sousing?1697
sop1729
sopping1824
souser1862
sogging1882
wetter1885
a1614 D. Dyke Sixe Evangelical Hist. (1617) 211 In Baptisme they vsed the rite of dousing.
1654 J. Reading Antidote against Anabaptism ii. v. 186 Dipping or dowsing in baptism, can neither be proved by example, &c. or any precept of Christ concerning the same.
1787 Hippisley's Flora (new ed.) ii. ii. 20 Hob. Tol, lol, lol—[Throws the drink in his face]... Hob. (to Friendly) did I not give him a fine dowsing?
1788 M. Cutler Jrnl. 29 Aug. in W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) I. 416 A shower came on, and gave us a severe dousing.
1844 York Herald 27 July 2/2 The farmer..should never use any of the manure from his fold-yard without previously giving it a good dousing with the black liquid.
1877 W. C. Russell Wreck of ‘Grosvenor’ III. iv. 67 I was..cold as ice on the skin from the repeated dousings I had received.
1934 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 May 354/2 Happily the escapade terminated in nothing worse than the Empress's receiving a thorough dousing from the water that was pouring upon them both from a leaky pipe.
1965 G. Jones Island of Apples ii. i. 68 Some disease you catch from a dowsing in rat-infested water finished him.
2008 Daily News of Los Angeles (Nexis) 15 Feb. l14 With this much creamy blandness overwhelming your mouth, liberal dousings of Del Taco sauce are needed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
dousingn.2
/ˈdaʊsɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈdaʊsɪŋ/, /ˈdaʊzɪŋ/, Irish English /ˈdaʊsɪŋ/ Now rare (British regional and Irish English in later use).
A beating.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > [noun]
beating?c1225
quassation?a1425
bunchingc1440
tunsionc1440
hammering1563
pealing1582
flapping1629
pulsation1656
dousing1721
pummelling1755
pommelling1788
dunching1789
walloping1837
whacking1862
shit-kicking1954
beat-down1989
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > [noun] > specific object a person
threshingOE
sousingc1580
rib-roast1595
basting1599
swingeing1603
cuffing1610
lamming1611
rib-roasting1613
mauling1621
pinking1637
drubbing1650
diverberation1651
verberation1661
trimming1675
rib1699
thrashing1720
dousing1721
fagging1746
bumping1751
dusting1799
clapperclawing1806
milling1806
hiding1809
punishment1811
doing1814
bethumping1831
mugging1846
jacketing1850
frailing1851
pasting1851
towelling1851
tanning1863
fum-fum1885
ribbing1894
paddywhack1898
tanking1905
beating-up1915
shellacking1931
sloshing1931
clobbering1948
twatting1963
duffing-up1967
1721 Weekly-Jrnl. 2 Sept. 860/1 To pass by the Sir-reverence, and the good Dousing the Dragon met with..; the Fight affords us every thing that's Great.
1837 R. Southey Doctor IV. 249 In common use among school-boys and blackguards..the threat of giving any one a dowsing.
1882 F. W. P. Jago Anc. Lang. & Dial. Cornwall 154 Give him a good dousing.
1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding Yorks. 34/2 Ah'll gi'e thee a dousin' iv a minit if thoo diznt hawd thee gob.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 104/2 Dousing, a beating, a thrashing.
2016 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. (Nexis) 6 Dec. (Sports section) 54 This latest dousing continues a long streak of Dons supremacy in this fixture which has seen them win every league meeting in each of the last three completed seasons.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1a1614
n.21721