whale on

English

Etymology

See whale (“to beat vigorously or soundly”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

whale on (third-person singular simple present whales on, present participle whaling on, simple past and past participle whaled on)

1. (slang) To strike an opponent heavily and repeatedly in a fight.
   • 1962, Norman Mailer, The Death of Benny Paret:

     If he had been able to break loose from his handlers and the referee, he would have jumped Paret to the floor and whaled on him there.

   • 2000, Joseph Di Prisco, Confessions of Brother Eli‎^[1], page 320:

     Philip was whaling on O, who was whaling on Slater, who was whaling on Genesius, who was whaling on Philip. Blood, spittle, and curses were flying.

   • 2014, Jack Hart, Skookum Summer: A Novel of the Pacific Northwest‎^[2], page 278:

     “Big sumbitch,” Don Dykes said. “Took a fuckin' ax handle to me. Just whaled on my fuckin' ass.”

2. (slang) To beat heavily on anything.

   The wrench wouldn’t budge, even though Tony was just whaling on it with a big old sledge hammer.

   • 1999, Stephen King, Bag of Bones‎^[3]:

     Standing at the front, wearing a guitar and whaling on it as she sang, was Sara Tidwell.

   • 2012, Nora Roberts, The Last Boyfriend‎^[4], page 71:

     Jaw tight, Ryder picked up his hammer, set a framing nail, and whaled on it.

   • 2014, Chris Fabry, The Song‎^[5]:

     Now he couldn't get enough of playing his father's music on a CD and whaling on the drum set Jed had bought him at one of those warehouse club stores

Alternative forms

• wale on
• wail on

Translations

to strike heavily in a fight

• French: s’acharner (fr), tabasser (fr)
• German: verhauen (de), verdreschen (de)

to beat heavily on anything

• German: draufhauen, draufdreschen

References

• “whale on”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.