[f. BASTE v.3 + -ING1.] A cudgelling, beating, thrashing. (In ‘a dry basting’ there is a humorous reference to the preceding.)
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., II. ii. 64. Lest it make you chollericke, and purchase me another drie basting.
1720. Swift, Irish Feast, Misc. (1735), V. 16. What Stabs and what Cuts … What Bastings and Kicks!
1833. Marryat, P. Simple (1863), 64. A good basting … was a sovereign remedy for sea-sickness.
