spanking

• (without æ-raising) IPA^(key): /ˈspæŋkɪŋ/, [ˈspæŋkʰɪŋ]

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• (æ-raising)
  • (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈspeɪ̯ŋkɪŋ/, [ˈspeɪ̯ŋkʰɪŋ] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋkɪŋ/, [ˈspɛ̃ŋkʰɪŋ]
• Hyphenation: span‧king

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

spanking

1. present participle of spank

spanking (not comparable)

1. Fast and energetic.

   a spanking pace

   • 1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “The Dead”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 257:

     '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.'

   • 1939 July, “Overseas Railways: Baltic Island Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 51:

     On both the Gothland and the Öland Railway, a spanking railcar provides an alternative to riding in the wayward, steam-driven mixed train, but the latter is the proper conveyance for a real railway lover, even over the flat, limestone plains which form much of the Baltic island scenery.

2. (often nautical) Brisk and fresh.

   a spanking breeze

• striking

spanking (not comparable)

1. (colloquial, now usually with “new”) An intensifier.

   brand spanking new

   a spanking good time

   spanking clean

   spanking white

• spankingly
• spanking new

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

spanking

1. present participle of spank

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.
   • 2001, John Rosemond, John Rosemond's New Parent Power!:

     Some people think spankings of any sort constitute child abuse.

• → Japanese: スパンキング
• → Korean: 스팽킹 (seupaengking)

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “spanking”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “spanking”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “spanking”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “spanking”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “spanking”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.