bashing, vbl. n.
(ˈbæʃɪŋ)
[f. bash v.2 +-ing1.]
1. The action of striking so as to dint, bruise, or crush; an instance of this.
| 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 45 Its hard and crusty Surface, so made by the Weights and Bashings of the heavy Rains. 1921 Public Opinion 21 Jan. 62/2 One would have expected to find a studious cultivation of more scientific methods of bashing. 1956 E. Grierson Second Man ix. 201 Street brawling—what the Aussies call ‘Bashing’. 1958 J. Cannan And be a Villain iii. 49 The first murder, other than slum-area bashings, that had occurred. |
2. a. A flogging (with the cat-o'-nine-tails).
| 1877 W. H. Thomson Five Years' Penal Servitude iii. 157 There were the evidences of former floggings, or ‘bashings’, as the prisoners call them. 1898 Daily News 23 Feb. 3/5, I got a bashing as well.—What do you mean by that?—Oh, I had the ‘cat’. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1948 Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 11 Take, get, a bashing, to suffer heavy losses. 1959 Listener 29 Jan. 219/1 In their 1911 bashing of Mr. Lloyd George the profession far excelled their efforts of 1948. |
3. Used in Services' slang to denote any arduous task.
| 1940 Daily Mail 7 Sept. 3/8 Here are some current military phrases, interpreted:..‘Spud-bashing’—Potato peeling. 1942 Horizon VI. 114 C.B. for a cert. Scrubbing, or mebbe a spot of spud bashing. 1943 Ward-Jackson Piece of Cake 56 Square bashing, marching, drilling or walking. 1946 G. Kersh Clean, Bright & Slightly Oiled i. 3 Poor old Gerald done fourteen drills that week, plus a nice basinful of spud-bashing. |