"trounce" in the verb sense

1. flog, welt, whip, lather, lash, slash, strap, trounce

beat severely with a whip or rod

"The teacher often flogged the students"

"The children were severely trounced"

2. beat, beat out, crush, shell, trounce, vanquish

come out better in a competition, race, or conflict

"Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"

"We beat the competition"

"Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game"

3. call on the carpet, take to task, rebuke, rag, trounce, lecture, reprimand, jaw, dress down, call down, scold, chide, berate, bawl out, remonstrate, chew out, chew up, have words, lambaste, lambast

censure severely or angrily

"The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car"

"The deputy ragged the Prime Minister"

"The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

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