(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If someone is given a ~, they are hit hard many times, especially with something such as a stick.
...the savage ~ of a black motorist by white police officers...
The team secured pictures of prisoners showing signs of severe ~s.
N-COUNT
2.
If something such as a business, a political party, or a team takes a ~, it is defeated by a large amount in a competition or election.
Our firm has taken a terrible ~ in recent years.
N-SING: a N
3.
If you say that something will take some ~, you mean that it is very good and it is unlikely that anything better will be done or made. (INFORMAL)
For sheer scale and grandeur, Leeds Castle in Kent takes some ~.
PHRASE: V inflects