1. A sound defeat
   "The underdog team received a licking in the championship game";
   - thrashing, walloping, debacle, drubbing [informal], slaughter, trouncing, whipping, pasting [informal], hammering [informal], débâcle, beatdown [N. Amer], smackdown [N. Amer, informal]

1. Pass the tongue over
   "the dog licked her hand";
   - lap
    
2. Take up with the tongue
   "the cub licked the milk from its mother's breast";
   - lap, lap up
    
3. [informal] Beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight
   "We licked the other team on Sunday!";
   - cream [informal], clobber [informal], drub [informal], thrash [informal], paste [informal], blow away [informal], muller [Brit, informal], marmelize [Brit, informal], marmelise [Brit, informal], trounce, whale [N. Amer, informal], hammer [informal], wipe the floor [informal], marmalise [Brit, informal], beat hollow [informal], slaughter [informal], marmalize [Brit, informal], smoke [N. Amer, informal], shellack [N. Amer, informal], shellac [N. Amer, informal]
    
4. [N. Amer, informal] Find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
   "After hours of work, she finally licked the maths problem";
   - solve, work out, figure out, puzzle out, work, suss [Brit, informal], suss out [Brit, informal], unriddle

Derived forms: lickings

Type of: beat, beat out, crush, defeat, drink, imbibe, shell [US], stroke, trounce, understand, vanquish

Encyclopedia: Licking, Missouri