Spanking

adj, adv, noun, verb, slang

adj, adv, noun, verb, slang ·2 syllables ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A form of physical punishment in which a beating is applied to the buttocks. uncountable

    "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. 2
    the act of slapping on the buttocks wordnet
  3. 3
    An incident of such punishment, or such physical act in a non-punitive context, such as a birthday spanking. countable

    "Some people think spankings of any sort constitute child abuse."

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle of spank form-of, participle, present
  2. 2
    present participle of spank form-of, participle, present
Adjective
  1. 1
    Fast and energetic. not-comparable

    "a spanking pace"

  2. 2
    Brisk and fresh. not-comparable, often

    "a spanking breeze"

Adjective
  1. 1
    quick and energetic wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    An intensifier. colloquial, not-comparable, usually

    "brand spanking new"

Synonyms

All synonyms
rattlingactiveactivistactivisticacuteadmonishment

Example

More examples

"Somebody needs a good spanking."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From spank (“to move energetically”) + -ing.

Etymology 2

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

Related phrases

spanking new

More for "spanking"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.