How to Use spank in a Sentence

spank

verb
  • That said, the Bills have spanked the Dolphins for a long time.
    — Miami Herald, 9 Nov. 2025
  • The sound is that of the back of a metal spoon spanking a mound of custard.
    — Weike Wang, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Schnepper said that his client, whose name was not released by police, did not spank the child.
    — Jamie Ducharme, Time, 23 Dec. 2017
  • There’s plenty of evidence that shows spanking kids does more harm than good.
    — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 17 Apr. 2023
  • Newsom rolled over so the boy was on top of his chest rather than the court and playfully spanked him with a smile.
    — Jenny Goldsberry, Washington Examiner, 29 Oct. 2023
  • The Dolphins should end their three-game skid and spank the Steelers in this one.
    — oregonlive, 23 Oct. 2022
  • Maybe getting popped upside my head or spanked or sent to my room for six hours isn’t really good for my kid.
    — Ellen Garrison, sacbee, 19 June 2017
  • News in a recent interview and was asked about her thoughts on spanking children.
    — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Oregon looks like one of the best teams in the country while spanking the Buffaloes.
    — oregonlive, 13 Oct. 2019
  • The question becomes, how does spanking in school affect children long term?
    — Kimanzi Constable, Parents, 1 Feb. 2024
  • Then they got spanked by the struggling Cardinals, resulting in a sweep.
    — Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 26 June 2023
  • The Rangers got spanked by the Royals on Thursday night by a score of 8-2.
    — Peter Dawson, star-telegram, 25 May 2018
  • Parents in some districts have to opt out of letting teachers spank their kids, though that can result in suspension.
    — John Archibald | [email protected], al, 24 Aug. 2022
  • Galison also admitted to spanking the boy three to four times on his bare buttocks, leaving a red mark.
    — Mike Cruz, azcentral, 7 Nov. 2019
  • As the Sentence trailer teases, Stella doesn’t even know her husband likes to be spanked in bed.
    — Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, 7 Mar. 2018
  • Her aesthetic is a mixture of rock and rap and her confidence beams through her eclectic style and spanking music.
    — Nandi Howard, Essence, 28 Aug. 2019
  • Kentucky is one of 19 states that still allow the practice, but many school districts no longer spank or paddle students.
    — Olivia Krauth, The Courier-Journal, 5 Mar. 2020
  • One couple taught the children to play the piano, while another spanked them and forced them to listen to Bible readings.
    — Gina Barton, jsonline.com, 20 Sep. 2017
  • The researchers paired subjects who had and had not been spanked at 5 years old but were equivalent on 38 other factors.
    — Susan Pinker, WSJ, 14 Dec. 2017
  • Opener Marlo also ribbed several people in the crowd, and even invited a man to spank her butt.
    — Piet Levy, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2 Feb. 2018
  • The Kowboys spanked the Titans by 20 a year ago, but the rematch looks to be more challenging.
    — Buddy Collings, OrlandoSentinel.com, 27 Feb. 2018
  • Brown alleged Wilhelmy rubbed her stomach, touched her shoulders and spanked her despite objections.
    — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 27 June 2026
  • So Gershoff says that in spite of the lingering controversy, the safest approach parents can take is not to spank their kids.
    — Melinda Wenner Moyer, Scientific American, 3 May 2016
  • Coy poses and looks abound, and she shamelessly gets spanked by the Easter Bunny -- once with a big carrot, once without.
    — Ashley Iasimone, Billboard, 1 Apr. 2018
  • Eric Goodman has been identified as the guy who pretended to spank me and kiss me during the live shot Friday.
    — Houston Chronicle, 26 Sep. 2019
  • That’s part of the reason why Lexus (with four utility pods) is so soundly spanking Cadillac (which has only two).
    — Kyle Stock, Bloomberg.com, 3 Nov. 2017
  • Less often, though often enough that the practice has its own name, quote-tweets are used to roast and clown on people — to trot them out in front of a new audience, drop their pants and spank them.
    — Willy Staley, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2023
  • Back in October, the Hawks opened the season spanking those Penguins 10-1.
    — Joe Knowles, chicagotribune.com, 28 Mar. 2018
  • But the Mountaineers bounced back to spank North Carolina State last weekend and are flying high entering a week off.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Sep. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spank.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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