Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for shellacking

shellacking

[ shuh-lak-ing ]

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.



shellacking

/ ˈʃɛlækɪŋ; ʃəˈlækɪŋ /

noun

  1. slang.
    a complete defeat; a sound beating

    anyone who gives a shellacking to their bigger neighbours



Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of shellacking1

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

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

see take a shellacking .

Discover More

Example Sentences

The result was a thorough shellacking of the Democratic party from top to bottom.

In 2010, when Democrats lost the House, Obama called it a “shellacking.”

For Paul, the shellacking is even worse, with Clinton beating him by 11 points overall and by 28 points with the kids.

Many politicians who had taken a shellacking would retreat to their home base and start rebuilding a career.

After 2010 shellacking, ‪Democrats belatedly embrace super PACs.

By repeated oiling and shellacking one produces a French polish that is very durable and elastic.

On no account finally connect up the battery to a circuit when shellacking the wire.

Some days should be allowed for the water to evaporate before shellacking.

Shellacking of covers has been advocated by some librarians, but it is doubtful if it pays.

Advertisement

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


shellacshellback