# licking

/ˈɫɪkɪŋ/ (US) · /lˈɪkɪŋ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/licking
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. act of using the tongue

noun · CEFR B1

the act of touching something with your tongue.

For teachers: the action of passing the tongue over a surface.

- The dog gave his owner a friendly licking on the hand.
- The child watched the cat's rhythmic licking of its paws, fascinated by the animal's meticulous grooming routine.

### 2. a defeat

noun · CEFR B2 · Informal

a bad loss in a game, fight, or competition.

For teachers: a decisive or humiliating defeat in a contest or conflict.

- Our team took a real licking in the final game of the season.
- After the company took a financial licking in the first quarter, the board of directors demanded a complete overhaul of the marketing strategy.

### 3. a physical beating

noun · CEFR C1 · Informal · Archaic

a physical punishment where someone is hit many times.

For teachers: a severe physical beating or thrashing administered as punishment.

- In the old story, the boy was threatened with a licking for his lies.
- The historical novel describes a time when a schoolmaster might give a student a licking for even the slightest infraction of the rules.

## Examples

- Our team took a real licking in the final game.
- After the local candidate took a licking at the polls, the party decided to change its strategy for the next election.
- The small startup took a financial licking during the market crash, losing nearly half of its valuation in a single fiscal quarter.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.