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spanking.

Fast and energetic.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈspæŋkɪŋ/[ˈspæŋkʰɪŋ]/ˈspeɪ̯ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US[ˈspeɪ̯ŋkʰɪŋ] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US

  1. Fast and energetic.

    not-comparable
    a spanking pace

  2. Brisk and fresh.

    not-comparable · often
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree English spank Proto-Indo-European *-onts Proto-Germanic *-ndz Proto-West Germanic *-andī Old English -ende Middle English -ynge English -ing English spanking From spank (“to move energetically”) + -ing.

adv/ˈspæŋkɪŋ/[ˈspæŋkʰɪŋ]/ˈspeɪ̯ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US[ˈspeɪ̯ŋkʰɪŋ] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US

  1. An intensifier.

    colloquial · not-comparable · usually
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree English spank Proto-Indo-European *-onts Proto-Germanic *-ndz Proto-West Germanic *-andī Old English -ende Middle English -ynge English -ing English spanking From spank (“to move energetically”) + -ing.

noun/ˈspæŋkɪŋ/[ˈspæŋkʰɪŋ]/ˈspeɪ̯ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US[ˈspeɪ̯ŋkʰɪŋ] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US

  1. A form of physical punishment in which a beating is applied to the buttocks.

    uncountable
    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. An incident of such punishment, or such physical act in a non-punitive context, such as a birthday spanking.

    countable
Where this word comes from

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

verb/ˈspæŋkɪŋ/[ˈspæŋkʰɪŋ]/ˈspeɪ̯ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US[ˈspeɪ̯ŋkʰɪŋ] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US

  1. present participle of spank

    form-of · participle · present
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree English spank Proto-Indo-European *-onts Proto-Germanic *-ndz Proto-West Germanic *-andī Old English -ende Middle English -ynge English -ing English spanking From spank (“to move energetically”) + -ing.

verb/ˈspæŋkɪŋ/[ˈspæŋkʰɪŋ]/ˈspeɪ̯ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US[ˈspeɪ̯ŋkʰɪŋ] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋkɪŋ/Canada, US

  1. present participle of spank

    form-of · participle · present
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.