"licking" in the noun sense
1. defeat, licking
an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest
"it was a narrow defeat"
"the army's only defeat"
"they suffered a convincing licking"
2. beating, thrashing, licking, drubbing, lacing, trouncing, whacking
the act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated blows
"licking" in the verb sense
1. cream, bat, clobber, drub, thrash, lick
beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight
"We licked the other team on Sunday!"
2. lick, lap
pass the tongue over
"the dog licked her hand"
3. solve, work out, figure out, puzzle out, lick, work
find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
"did you solve the problem?"
"Work out your problems with the boss"
"this unpleasant situation isn't going to work itself out"
"did you get it?"
"Did you get my meaning?"
"He could not work the math problem"
4. lap, lap up, lick
take up with the tongue
"The cat lapped up the milk"
"the cub licked the milk from its mother's breast"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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