shellackingn.
Chiefly U.S.
1. A coating of shellac.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with coating or covering materials > [noun] > varnishing
varnishing1505
varnish1601
shellacking1881
1881 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (ed. 4) 139 It..saves time when used instead of waxing or shellacing.
2. A beating or thrashing, a ‘pasting’; a defeat. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > defeat or overthrow > [noun] > heavy or crushing
overset1456
Pharsalia1693
smashing1821
rout1831
sauve-qui-peut1861
drubbing1884
smash1888
pounding1912
shellacking1931
fucking?1945
bloodbath1967
wipeout1968
skinning1972
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
1931 E. H. Lavine Third Degree x. 121 When this method failed, as it invariably did, he would leave the room and the shellacking continued.
1941 Sun (Baltimore) 18 Sept. 13/1 The main bulk of the Twenty-ninth Division handed the One Hundred and Fifteenth Regimental Combat Team a shellacking on the combat range today.
1956 W. H. Whyte Organization Man ii. 22 By the time of the First World War the Protestant Ethic had taken a shellacking from which it would not recover.
1960 T. McLean Kings of Rugby 56 ‘Ronnie’ left the field to run into the greatest shellacking he had ever had.
1978 H. Wouk War & Remembrance xxxiii. 351 The Japs can't recover from the shellacking they took at Midway.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1881