Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb trounce

3 senses of trounce

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")
       => beat, beat up, work over -- (give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression; "Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night"; "The teacher used to beat the students")

Sense 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")
       => get the better of, overcome, defeat -- (win a victory over; "You must overcome all difficulties"; "defeat your enemies"; "He overcame his shyness"; "He overcame his infirmity"; "Her anger got the better of her and she blew up")

Sense 3
call on the carpet, take to task, rebuke, rag, trounce, reproof, 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")
       => knock, criticize, criticise, pick apart -- (find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws; "The paper criticized the new movie"; "Don't knock the food--it's free")