Broderick
How to Use Broderick
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAs slang, a broderick is a serious beating — to broderick someone means to beat them up badly.
Don't confuse this slang sense with the common surname Broderick (as in actor Matthew Broderick) — context makes it obvious which is meant.
Very informal and dated British/Irish slang; most readers will only know Broderick as a surname or first name.
Word Forms
brodericked past tense, brodericks plural, brodericks singular
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
He threatened to give the burglar a _____ if he ever came back.
Etymology
Broderick is originally an Anglicised Irish/Welsh surname; the slang verb and noun sense (meaning a beating) grew out of British and Irish underworld slang, likely from rhyming-slang-style wordplay rather than any connection to a real person named Broderick.