spank /spæŋk/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1700-1800 ; Origin: From the sound ]
to hit a child on their bottom with your open hand, as a punishment SYN smack
—spank noun [countable] :
a spank on the bottom
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THESAURUS
■ to hit someone
▪ hit to hit someone quickly and hard with your hand, a stick etc:
He hit him hard in the stomach.
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I don’t like to see people hitting a dog.
▪ beat to hit someone deliberately many times, especially very hard:
The girl had been beaten to death.
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He was beating the donkey with a stick.
▪ strike written to hit someone with your hand or a weapon. Strike is more formal than hit and is mainly used in written English:
Her husband struck her twice across the face.
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Police say that the man had been struck on the head.
▪ punch to hit someone hard with your closed hand, especially in a fight:
I punched him on the nose.
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She was screaming and punching him with her fists.
▪ thump /θʌmp/ informal to punch someone very hard:
Sometimes I just want to thump him.
▪ beat somebody up to hurt someone badly in a violent attack, by hitting them many times:
If I tell the police, they'll beat me up.
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He had been beaten up and tortured with lighted cigarettes.
▪ slap to hit someone with your open hand, especially because you are angry with them:
They had a big row and she ended up slapping him.
▪ spank ( also smack especially British English ) to hit someone, especially a child, with your open hand in order to punish them:
Should a parent ever smack a child?
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I don’t agree with smacking.
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In those days, children were spanked if they behaved badly.