# spank

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈspæŋk/ · frequency rank #26,258

## Definitions
1. To beat, smack or slap a person's buttocks, with the bare hand or other object, as punishment, or for sexual gratification.
2. To soundly defeat, to trounce.
3. To hit very hard.

## Etymology
Uncertain. Possibly imitative, or perhaps a special use of Etymology 2 (below) in the sense of a horse stamping its foot against the ground. There is no evidence of a relation with Portuguese espancar (“to batter, strike”).

## Easily confused with
- **spin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spin)
- **stan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-stan)
- **swan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-swan)
- **sunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-sunk)
- **spun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spun)
- **spat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spat)
- **spar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spar)
- **spas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spas)
- **stand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-stand)
- **speak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-speak)
- **spent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spent)
- **spend** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spend)
- **spare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spare)
- **stack** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-stack)
- **stark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-stark)
- **spark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spark)
- **spine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spine)
- **spins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-spins)
- **stalk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-stalk)
- **stink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spank-vs-stink)

## Common misspellings (8)
`psank`, `sapnk`, `spakn`, `spankk`, `spannk`, `spnak`, `sppank`, `sspank`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spank