Trounce meaning

Verb: trounce

Pronunciation: (trawn(t)s)

Trounce meaning:

• Beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight

Synonyms: cream, bat, clobber, drub, thrash, lick, wipe the floor, slaughter, blow away, marmalize, marmelise, marmelize, whale, muller, hammer, marmalise, paste, beat hollow, smoke, tromp

• Come out better in a competition, race, or conflict

Synonyms: beat, beat out, crush, shell, vanquish 

• Censure severely or angrily

Synonyms: call on the carpet, take to task, rebuke, rag, lecture, reprimand, jaw, dress down, call down, scold, chide, berate, bawl out, remonstrate, chew out, chew up, have words, lambaste, lambast, ream, wig

• Beat severely with a whip or rod

Synonyms: flog, welt, whip, lather, lash, slash, strap, whale
Derived forms: trounced, trounces, trouncing
Quotations:

1. Leigh Bardugo – Why don’t Fjerdans let girls fight? They don’t want to fight. How do you know? Have you ever asked one? Fjerdan women are to be venerated, protected. That’s probably a wise policy. It is? Think how embarrassing it would be for you when you got trounced by a Fjerdan girl.
2. Laurie R. King – These last weeks, since Christmas, have been odd ones. I have begun to doubt that I knew you as well as I thought. I have even wondered if you wished to keep some part of yourself hidden from me in order to preserve your privacy and your autonomy. I will understand if you refuse to give me an answer tonight, and although I freely admit I will be hurt by such a refusal, you must not allow my feelings to influence your answer. I looked up into his face. The question I have for you, then is this: How are the fairies in your garden? By the yellow streetlights, I saw the trepidation that had been building up in face give way to a flash of relief, then to the familiar signs of outrage: the bulging eyes, the purpling skin, the thin lips. He cleared his throat. I am not a man much given to violence, he began, calmly enough, but I declare that if that man Doyle came before me today, I should be hard-pressed to avoid trouncing him. The image was a pleasing one, two gentlemen on the far side of middle age, one built like a bulldog and the other like a bulldong, engaging in fisticuffs. It is difficult enough to surmount Watson’s apparently endless blather in order to have my voice heard as a scientist, but now, when people hear my name, all they will think of is that disgusting dreamy-eyed little girl and her preposterous paper cutouts. I knew the man was limited, but I did not even suspect that he was insane! Oh, well, Holmes, I drawled into his climbing voice. Look on the bright side. You’ve complained for years how tedious it is to have everyone with a stray puppy or a stolen pencil box push through your hedges and tread on the flowers; now the British Public will assume that Sherlock Homes is as much a fairy tale as those photographs and will stop plaguing you. I’d say the man’s done you a great service. I smiled brightly. For a long minute, it was uncertain whether he was going to strike me dead for my impertinence or drop dead himself of apoplexy, but then, as I had hoped, he threw back his head and laughed long and hard.
3. Eliezer Yudkowsky – He’d met other prodigies in mathematical competitions. In fact he’d been thoroughly trounced by competitors who probably spent literally all day practicing math problems and who’d never read a science-fiction book and who would burn out completely before puberty and never amount to anything in their future lives because they’d just practiced known techniques instead of learning to think creatively. (Harry was something of a sore loser.)
4. Danielle Ofri – Thus, whatever the medical student has been taught, and even genuinely believes, about the ideals of medicine, the primacy of empathy, the value of the doctor-patient relationship all of this is swamped once he or she steps into the wards.  It’s no wonder that empathy gets trounced in the actual world of clinical medicine; everything that empathy requires seems to detract from daily survival.
5. Darrell Drake – I was pregnable once, Merill thought to contribute. She remembered how troublesome it made getting around, having a ripe belly. Couldn’t roll properly, couldn’t hop properly, couldn’t romp or flop properly. There were the cravings for roasted cabbage she loathed cabbage, with its leaves and growing in rows. And labor! Merill passed out during childbirth. She’d endured burns, lacerations, rips, serrated teeth, nails, hooks and a trove of unmentionable harm-inflictors. Labor trounced them all and wriggled gleefully in the spray of blood and gore. Being pregnable is no good. No good at all. Like growing a bitter melon in your belly.
6. Sharon Wildey – A word of caution comes from Richard A. Gardner, MD who wrote a book titled, The Parental Alienation Syndrome.  Dr. Garner said Only terminate your relationship with your parents in the most extreme of circumstances and only then after careful counseling and guidance from a professional.  Your entire identity is tied up in who they are, their historical systems and beliefs trouncing around your family history.
7. Max Brooks – News from the Tri Nations was enough to make any South African feel ten feet tall. The Springboks were trouncing the All Blacks again!
8. Sherwood Smith – Report went to the King that the mysterious attack on Chovilun was by mountain raiders, he said. So my lord must have been right about those greens. Flerac pulled thoughtfully at his thin mustache. Greens, I’d gathered, was their nickname for Galdran’s warriors. I’m just glad we didn’t have to kill them, Snap put in, rolling her eyes. Those two in the dungeon were sick as old oatmeal about being ordered to stand duty during torture. I can tell when someone’s hay stacking, and they weren’t. What happened? I asked, trying to hide my surprise. I take it there was fighting when you people pulled me out of that Merindar fortress? They all turned to me, then to Nessaren, who said, Some. We let some of them go, on oath they’d desert. There are plenty of greens who didn’t want to join, or wish they hadn’t. What about that lumping snarl face of a Baron? I kept my voice as casual as possible, wondering what all this meant. Was Shevraeth, or was he not, Debegri’s ally? I hope he got trounced. He ran. Flerac’s lip curled. Came out, found his two bodyguards down, got out through some secret passage while we were trying to get in through another door. Don’t think he saw any of us. Don’t know, though. Then they were no longer allies. What did that mean? Was Shevraeth trying to take Debegri’s place in Galdran’s favor? Report could be false, Amol said soberly. Nessaren nodded once. Let’s pick up our feet, shall we? By which they meant it was time to ride faster.
9. Sabrina Jeffries – Good God, Miss Butterfield, Lord Jarret said. Don’t tell me you read Minerva’s Gothic horrors. They’re not Gothic horrors! Maria protested. They’re wonderful books! And yes, I’ve read every single one, more than once. Well, that explains a few things, Oliver remarked. I suppose I have my sister to thank for turning a sword on me at the brothel. Lord Gabriel laughed. You took a sword to old Oliver? Oh, God, that’s rich! Lord Jarret sipped some wine. At least the mystery of the weapons at her disposal’ is now solved. He was misbehaving, Maria said, with a warning glance for Oliver. Did he want them to know everything, for pity’s sake? He left me no choice. Oh, Maria’s always doing things like that, Freddy said through a mouth full of eel. That’s why we won’t teach her to shoot. She always goes off half-cocked. Maria thrust out her chin. A woman has to stand up for herself. Hear, hear! Lady Celia raised her goblet of wine to Maria. Don’t mind these clod-pates. What can you expect from a group of men? They would prefer we let them run roughshod over us. No, we wouldn’t, Lord Gabriel protested. I like a woman with a little fire. Of course, I can’t speak for Oliver- I assure you, I rarely feel the need to run roughshod over a woman, Oliver drawled. An arch smile touched his lips as his gaze locked with Maria’s. I’ve kissed one or two when they weren’t prepared for it, but every man does that. Lady Minerva snorted. Yes, and most of them get slapped, but not you, I expect. Even when you misbehave, you have a talent for turning ladies up sweet. How else would you go from having a sword thrust at you to gaining Miss Butterfield’s consent to be your bride-eh, Miss Butterfield? Maria didn’t answer. Something was nagging at the back of her brain-a vaguely familiar line from one of Lady Minerva’s books: He had a talent for turning ladies up sweet, which both thrilled and alarmed her. Heavens alive. She stared at Oliver. You’re the Marquess of Rockton! She hardly realized she’d said it aloud until his brothers and sisters laughed. A pained look crossed Oliver’s face. Don’t remind me. Sparing a glare for his sister, Oliver muttered, You have no idea how my friends revel in the fact that my sister made me a villain in her novel. They only revel because she made them into heroes, Lord Jarret pointed out, eyes twinkling. Fox moor got quite a big head over it, and Kirkwood’s been strutting around ever since the last one came out. He loved that he got to trounce you. That’s because he knows he couldn’t trounce me in real life, Oliver remarked. Though he keeps suggesting we should have a rapier duel to prove whether he could. Maria stared at them agape. Do you mean that the Viscount Church grove is real? And Fox moor great heavens, that’s Wolf plain! Yes. Oliver rolled his eyes. Church grove is my friend, the Viscount Kirkwood, and Wolf plain is another friend, the Duke of Fox moor. Apparently Minerva has trouble coming up with original characters. You know perfectly well that I only used a version of their names, Lady Minerva said smoothly. The characters are my own. Except for you, Oliver, Lord Jarret remarked. You’re clearly Rockton.
10. Seth Godin – Today, working hard is about taking apparent risk. Not a crazy risk like betting the entire company on an untested product. No, an apparent risk: something that the competition (and your co-workers) believe is unsafe but that you realize is in fact far more conservative than sticking with the status quo. Richard Branson doesn’t work more hours than you do. Neither does Steve Ballmer or Carly Fiorina. Robyn Waters, the woman who revolutionized what Target sells and helped the company trounce Kmart probably worked fewer hours than you do in an average week. None of the people who are racking up amazing success stories and creating cool stuff are doing it just by working more hours than you are. And I hate to say it, but they’re not smarter than you either. They’re succeeding by doing hard work. As the economy plods along, many of us are choosing to take the easy way out. We’re going to work for the Man, letting him do all the hard work while we put in the long hours. We’re going back to the future, to a definition of work that embraces the grindstone.

Sample sentences:

1. He was defeated. Competitive him, who’d spent most of his life perfecting the art of winning. He’d been trounced by a woman. Killed with one look from those hazel eyes.
2. Mrs. Farleigh, he called. She stopped and gave him her shoulder, not quite meeting his eyes. Still wary, and that made him angrier yet. I want you to trounce me. Her head snapped up. Pardon? It is down to you and me. We are battling it out, to see who will be king of the indifferent shots in this competition. Only one of us will prevail. I shall shoot to win. He really was angry, he realized – furious to imagine her spending her autumns deliberately hiding what she could do, hiding the extent of her ability from the man who should treasure it. It was as if she’d left a vast swath of her ability unclaimed, hidden behind a swirl of feminine smiles. He didn’t like the idea. He didn’t like it at all.
3. Countries that combine free markets with more taxation, social spending, and regulation than the United States (such as Canada, New Zealand, and Western Europe) turn out to be not grim dystopias but rather pleasant places to live, and they trounce the United States in every measure of human flourishing, including crime, life expectancy, infant mortality, education, and happiness
4. Why was there no fucking true Daddy? The answer was clear. Because men wouldn’t fall for it. Not that they were smarter- Amara firmly believed she could trounce the average man in a battle of wits- but because they weren’t primed from birth like women were, told that they could be anything they wanted to be while handicapped at every turn by invisible forces, told that they were more than just their looks while also culturally programmed to believe that their value was tied to their desirability. Men aged into silver foxes while women aged into obsolescence. And when you added in children, oh, that was when everything really went to shit. Because even though father stamped their children with their last names, the world didn’t ask as much of them. No one really expected fathers to consider giving up their careers to put their children first, to stop managing a company and start managing a household. Women had to grapple with a choice that men never did while remaining uncomplaining and generous so that they didn’t nag their husbands straight into the arms of uncomplicated lovers.
5. Ever wanted more. After all, women weren’t equal to men. They were better. Certainly not in strength or their skill in killing things, but when it came to propagation women absolutely trounced men. Men could bring some chips to the party, but that shindig was always going down in the belly of a woman. And considering that the hardest part of gathering food now was finding a parking spot, strength and killing things were significantly less high on the list of key survival traits.
6. There’s my girl. He tossed the rag to the hearth. Now, cuddle up. Do you know, I think you put bruises on my are, woman? He stretched out on his side, right smack beside her. You have slain me, Emmie Farnum. He sighed happily and felt cautiously for her in the dark. His hand found her hair, which he smoothed back in a tender caress. I badly needed slaying, too, I can tell you. He bumped her cheek with his nose and pulled back abruptly. I would have said you were in need of slaying, as well, he said slowly, but why the tears, Emmie, love? There were women who cried in intimate circumstances, a trait he’d always found endearing, but they weren’t Emmie, and her cheek wasn’t damp. It was wet. Did I hurt you? he asked, pulling her over his body. He positioned her to straddle him and wrapped an arm around her even while his hand continued to explore her face. He thought he’d been careful, but at the end, he’d been ardent or too rough? Sweetheart. He found her cheek with his lips. I am so heartily sorry. For what? she expostulated, sitting up on him. I am the one who needs to apologize. Oh, God, help me, I was hoping you wouldn’t learn this of me, and I tried to tell you, but I couldn’t I just. She was working herself up to a state. Even in the dark, her voice alone testified to rising hysteria. Emmie. He leaned up and gathered her in his arms. Emmie, hush. But she couldn’t hush; she was sobbing and hiccupping and gulping in his arms, leaving him helpless to do more than hold her, murmur meaningless reassurances, and then finally, lay her gently on her side, climb out of bed, and fish his handkerchief out of his pockets. All the while though, he sorted through their encounter and seized upon a credible source of Emmie’s upset. You were not a virgin, he said evenly as he tucked the handkerchief into her hand and gathered her back over him. I was not, she said, seizing up again in misery. And I hate to cry. But of course you know. I do now, he thought with a small smile, though had he thought otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so willing to bed her he hoped. Cease your tears, Emmie love. He tucked her closer. I am sorry for your sake you are so upset, and I hope your previous liaisons were not painful, but as for me, I am far more interested in your future than your past. A moment of silence went by, his hands tracing lazy patterns on her lovely back, and then she looked up at him. You cannot mean that. I can, he corrected her gently. I know you were without anyone to protect you, and you were in service. One of my own sisters was damned near seduced by a footman, Emmie. It happens, and that’s the end of it. Has your heart been broken? She nodded on a shuddery breath. Shall I trounce him for you? Flirt with his wife? That won’t be necessary, she said, her voice sounding a little less shaky.
7. Without a doubt, American teenagers can perform at the top of the world on a sophisticated test of critical thinking. Students at traditional public high schools that took the test in Fairfax, Virginia, also trounced teenagers around the world.
8. Would you be very offended if I begged off our cribbage match?” There was only so much fraternal cross-examination a man could politely bear, after all. Of course I don’t mind. I’ll trounce Belmont instead, or the grooms, or maybe just cadge a nap under some obliging tree. Go to your lady. It’s clear you were pining for her all through lunch. Val scrubbed a hand over his face. Was I that obvious? A brother far from home suspects these things. There’s cake in the breadbox. You might take her some. One piece and one fork. Well done.
9. A friend of mine raised a lot of money to launch a mobile app, however, his app was trounced by one from another company that had raised a tenth of what he had, but had done so through 1,000 angels on Kick starter. Those thousand angels became the customers and evangelists that provided the all-important critical mass early on. Any future project I do, I’ll do through Kick starter, even if I don’t need the money. Lesson
10. A slap and a night’s disgrace. But when he sneaked into the kitchen and stole a hamburger patty from the table he got a trouncing. He
11. The psychobabble spelled out in magazines, the imaginary divans we would never wish to lie on ourselves, all they do is hold up mirrors in which not a single truth is revealed, because the truth is always trounced by the lie. Was Heinz a liar by saying nothing? Did he drink because he never stopped telling lies?
12. In the years following Hannibal’s birth, his father Hamilcar had fought doggedly and with great skill to preserve the remnants of the Carthaginian garrisons in western Sicily. That he was finally unsuccessful was because the Romans had been quick to learn an all-important lesson to succeed in the Mediterranean theater it is essential to have command of the sea. In the early stages of this great war the Carthaginians, with centuries of experience behind them, had found little difficulty in trouncing the Romans in naval engagements and in harrying their coastline. But one of the Roman qualities which would greatly assist them to their successful imperial role was an ability to learn from mistakes.
13. At his words, the good butterflies trounced the bad butterflies and the bad ones retreated to Siberia.
14. Loretta couldn’t concentrate on the game long enough to figure out its rules. She had eyes only for Red Buffalo. He had joined Warrior’s family for the evening and was displaying a jovial, gentle side that Loretta could not believe. Pony Girl, Warrior’s two-year-old orphaned niece, climbed all over Red Buffalo, using his braids for handholds, squeezing his neck from behind until his face turned red, tickling him when he ignored her to concentrate on the game. The warrior put up with her antics, his hands always gentle when he disengaged his hair from her clutches. Loretta could scarcely believe her eyes. When Maiden of the Tall Grass picked up the dice, Red Buffalo said something to her, and she gave an outraged squeal, elbowing him in the ribs. Red Buffalo laughed and grabbed her braids, looping them into a knot beneath her chin. She rolled her beautiful eyes and shook the dice, tossing them with a flourish. Red Buffalo leaned forward to see what she had thrown, then groaned and thumped his brow with the heel of his hand. Warrior threw back his head and roared with laughter. Turtle, who at the advanced age of five had been allowed to play, began to pout. The game was over, and Maiden of the Tall Grass had clearly trounced the men. She unlooped her braids and swept them over her shoulders, a smug expression on her face. The gesture reminded Loretta of Amy, but then, these days, everything did. As she watched this family interact, the only differences she could detect between them and white people were their dress and language. Indeed, they seemed happier and more content.
15. I am filthy, she said, looking down at herself. The lake’s right there, he said. It’s so cold. A bath, then? She smiled seductively. You’ll join me. But of course. He held out his arm and together they began to stroll back toward the house. Should we have told them we forfeit? Kate asked. No, Colin’s going to try to steal the black mallet, you know. He looked at her with interest. You think he’ll attempt to remove it from Aubrey Hall? Wouldn’t you? Absolutely he replied, with great emphasis. We shall have to join forces. Oh, indeed. They walked on a few more yards, and then Kate said, But once we have it back .  He looked at her in horror. Oh, then it’s every man for himself. You didn’t think.  No, she said hastily. Absolutely not. Then we are agreed, Anthony said, with some relief. Really, where would the fun be if he couldn’t trounce Kate? They walked on a few seconds more, and then Kate said, I’m going to win next year. I know you think you will. No, I will. I have ideas. Strategies. Anthony laughed, then leaned down to kiss her, mud and all. I have ideas, too, he said with a smile. And many, many strategies. She licked her lips. We’re not talking about Pall Mall any longer, are we? He shook his head. She wrapped her arms around him, her hands pulling his head back down to hers. And then, in the moment before his lips took hers, he heard her sigh Good.
16. How exciting is it to come to work if the best you can do is trounce some other company that does roughly the same thing?
17. To forget is to blithely toss aside the hard lessons that were hard won by others before us, thereby needlessly dooming us to endure the hard lessons that are likely to be forgotten by those who will follow us. And it is altogether reasonable that in order to avoid this repetitive trouncing, God graciously granted us memories.