Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To strike with a heavy, crushing blow.
  • intransitive verb To beat or assault severely.
  • intransitive verb Informal To criticize (another) harshly, accusatorially, and threateningly.
  • intransitive verb To engage in harsh, accusatory, threatening criticism.
  • noun Informal A heavy, crushing blow.
  • noun Slang A celebration; a party.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To daunt; dismay; abash; confound; confuse.
  • To be daunted, dismayed, or confounded.
  • To be abashed or ashamed; be put out of countenance.
  • To strike with a heavy blow; beat violently; knock out of shape.
  • To strike; knock.
  • In coal-mining, to fill with rubbish (space from which coal has been taken).
  • noun A blow that knocks out of shape, or leaves a dent.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb Prov. Eng. & Scot. To strike heavily; to beat; to crush.
  • verb obsolete To abash; to disconcert or be disconcerted or put out of countenance.
  • noun a forceful blow, especially one that does damage to its target.
  • noun a elaborate or lively social gathering or party.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To strike heavily.
  • verb To collide.
  • verb To criticize harshly.
  • noun A large party; gala event.
  • noun An attack that consists of placing all one's weight into a downward attack with one's fists.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To abash; to disconcert or be disconcerted or put out of countenance.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an uproarious party
  • noun a vigorous blow
  • verb hit hard

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old Norse, akin to Swedish basa 'to baste, whip, lash, flog', Danish baske 'to beat, strike, cudgel', German patschen ("to slap").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English baschen, baissen. See abash.

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