spanking

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
This entry needs a photograph or drawing for illustration. Please try to find a suitable image on Wikimedia Commons or upload one there yourself!

Pronunciation

[edit]
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈspæŋkɪŋ/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Etymology 1

[edit]

From spank (to move energetically) +‎ -ing.

Verb

[edit]

spanking

  1. present participle of spank

Adjective

[edit]

spanking (not comparable)

  1. Fast and energetic.
    a spanking pace
    • 19041907 (date written), James Joyce, “The Dead”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC:
      I'd like nothing better this minute, said Mr Browne stoutly, than a rattling fine walk in the country or a fast drive with a good spanking goer between the shafts.
    • 1939 July, “Overseas Railways: Baltic Island Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 51:
      On both the Gothland and the Öland Railway, a spanking railcar provides an alternative to riding in the wayward, steam-driven mixed train, but the latter is the proper conveyance for a real railway lover, even over the flat, limestone plains which form much of the Baltic island scenery.
  2. (often nautical) Brisk and fresh.
    a spanking breeze
Synonyms
[edit]

Adverb

[edit]

spanking (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial, now usually with “new”) An intensifier.
    brand spanking new
    a spanking good time
    spanking clean
    spanking white
Derived terms
[edit]

Etymology 2

[edit]

From spank (to punish by swatting) +‎ -ing (participial suffix) and -ing (gerundial suffix).

Verb

[edit]

spanking

  1. present participle of spank

Noun

[edit]

spanking (countable and uncountable, plural spankings)

  1. (uncountable) A form of physical punishment in which a beating is applied to the buttocks.
    Domestic spanking is often endured over the knee (or lap), formal spanking rather applied over a contraption such as a trestle or A-frame, with or without constraints.
  2. (countable) An incident of such punishment, or such physical act in a non-punitive context, such as a birthday spanking.
    • 2001, John Rosemond, John Rosemond's New Parent Power!:
      Some people think spankings of any sort constitute child abuse.
Translations
[edit]

References

[edit]