hosing
Americannoun
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an act or instance of being taken advantage of or cheated.
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an act or instance of being attacked or defeated decisively; drubbing.
Small investors took a hosing in the recent stock-market decline.
Etymology
Origin of hosing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Images from the scene showed an emergency team hosing down the landing gear on a Loganair ATR 72 aircraft, which had been due to depart at 10:05.
From BBC • Dec. 26, 2025
“I ran up here from Torrance and grabbed what I could,” said Joe, whose pants and boots were soaked with water from hosing down his father’s home.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2025
The prime minister promised back in September to allow veterans to get onto social hosing lists more easily.
From BBC • Nov. 8, 2024
“All wasteful water use such as hosing down driveways and impervious surfaces, allowing water to flow unattended and using water in a grossly inefficient manner, is prohibited,” the Southwest Florida Water Management District website says.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 7, 2023
Like, too old to be hosing down blazing houses, that’s for sure.
From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.