Word.ws English Dictionary

spanking

Syllables: span·king/ˈspæŋkɪŋ//ˈspeɪ̯ŋkɪŋ/

spanking is the present participle of spank.

Adjective

spanking (not comparable)

  1. Fast and energetic.
    • a spanking pace
    • '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.'1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “The Dead”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 257
  2. (often) Brisk and fresh.
    • a spanking breeze

Noun

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.
    • Some people think spankings of any sort constitute child abuse.2001, John Rosemond, John Rosemond's New Parent Power!

Meaning of spank

Verb (1)

spank (third-person singular simple present spanks, present participle spanking, simple past and past participle spanked)

  1. (transitive) To beat, smack or slap a person's buttocks, with the bare hand or other object, as punishment, or for sexual gratification.
    Synonyms:
    slap
  2. (transitive) To soundly defeat, to trounce.
    Synonyms:
    rout
  3. (transitive) To hit very hard.
    • Spurs had a free-kick on the edge of the Liverpool box. Érik Lamela spanked it low into the wall, got the ball back, played it out to Christian Eriksen.2018 September 15, Barney Ronay, The Guardian, Finely tuned Liverpool are really getting into Jürgen Klopp’s groove
    Synonyms:
    smack

Verb (2)

spank (third-person singular simple present spanks, present participle spanking, simple past and past participle spanked)

  1. (intransitive) To move quickly and nimbly on foot; to stride or run at a brisk pace.
  2. (intransitive) To move or turn rapidly, as the gears of a machine or the sails of a ship.
    • The ship was really spanking along.
  3. (ambitransitive) To shoot out or throw violently; to hurl or knock out.

See all 10 meanings of spank

Adverb

spanking (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial, usually) An intensifier.
    • brand spanking new
    • a spanking good time

Synonyms of spanking

Forms of spanking

pluralspankings

Origin of spanking

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

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

Words formed from spanking

Phrases with spanking

Questions about spanking

What does spanking mean?
Spanking means fast and energetic.
What is spanking the present participle of?
Spanking is the present participle of spank.
What part of speech is spanking?
Spanking can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
How do you pronounce spanking?
Spanking is pronounced /ˈspæŋkɪŋ/.

Words near spanking in the dictionary

  1. spankers
  2. spankies
  3. spankily
  4. spankin'
  5. spankiness
  6. spanking
  7. spanking it
  8. spanking new
  9. spanking out
  10. spankingly
  11. spankings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spanking (page history and authors); spank (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-spanking.ogg.

Cite this entry: “spanking.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spanking. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.