▪ I. walloping, vbl. n.
(ˈwɒləpɪŋ)
[-ing1.]
The action of the verb wallop (in various senses).
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 514/2 Waloppynge, of horse, voloptacio. 1686 G. Stuart Joco-ser. Disc. 48 Oh—! Wae betide this galloping! I've got my fill of wallopping! 1837 S. Lover Rory O'More I. ii. 47 ‘And what is all this walloping for?’ ‘Why, sir, whin we have a bit of a fight, for fun,..his reverence sometimes hears of it, and comes av coorse.’ 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle xvi. (1859) 391 The water in the immediate neighbourhood seemed quite alive, from the rushing and walloping of numberless fishes. 1871 C. Gibbon Lack of Gold ii, Your father gied you a walloping for telling a lie. |
▪ II. walloping, ppl. a.
(ˈwɒləpɪŋ)
[-ing2.]
1. That wallops. Now chiefly (colloq. or dial.), that moves with a clumsy irregular gait.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2147 Sweltand knyghtez Lyes wyde opyne welterande one walopande stedez. 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. (1839) I. 305 There were black women ploughing in the field, with..their wolloping gait and vacant countenance. 1845 S. Judd Margaret ii. i, She graduates the walloping syrup when it is likely to overflow. |
2. dial. Strikingly large, powerful, etc.; ‘thumping’, ‘whopping’. Often reinforced with big, great. (See Eng. Dial. Dict.)
| 1847 Halliwell, Walloping, great. var. dial. 1959 F. Astaire Steps in Time (1960) xxviii. 317 Funny Face proved a walloping success in the main big-city first runs and particularly at the Music Hall, where it broke several records. 1980 M. Richler Joshua Then & Now i. ii. 55 Joshua slid behind the bar, which was unattended, and poured himself a walloping cognac. |