I. ˈspaŋkiŋ, -paiŋ-, -kēŋ adjective
Etymology: origin unknown
1. : remarkable of its kind : unusual or distinctive in some manner
rode the noble animal over the spanking leap — Samuel Lover
her smocked … cotton brought up behind with a spanking bow — Mademoiselle
2.
a. : moving or capable of moving with a quick lively pace
drove … by buckboard behind a spanking pair of the little mules — J.H.Allen
b. : dashing , merry
passed our house … at a spanking three miles an hour — Ben Riker
like to be towed astern, riding surfboard … at a spanking clip — Jerome Ellison
c. : being fresh and strong : brisk — usually used of a breeze
small boats dance on the clear blue waters in the spanking breeze — Bentz Plagemann
II. adverb
: exceptionally , very
put that away spanking clean last fall — Charles Boswell
spanking new modernistic structures, all concrete and colored glass — Ridgely Cummings