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flogging

flogging

1 8.0
An act of beating someone with a whip as punishment
  • noun
  • /ˈflɔɡɪŋ/
  • NSFW
translation icon : azote
  • In the past, floggings were a common punishment for serious crimes in many societies.
  • public floggings
  • floggings and beheadings
  • floggings and amputations

What I dislike is public floggings.

Examples

  • Control of sexual misbehaviors includes the use of corporal punishment (floggings with whips or cat-o'-nine-tails), imprisonment, and public shaming.

    Academic text (2016)
  • "Floggings were done right after assembly, so as to start everyone off in the proper frame of mind for the day.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Flogging is not, by Singaporean standards, unusual or unprecedented punishment.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Watch Ella punished male and female adulterers only with flogging or stoning.

  • This book's depiction of slave life, including the humiliation of slave auctions, families being torn apart, and floggings, may seem harsh and might not be appropriate for younger children, yet it reveals the truth about that inhumane American institution from the slaves' perspective.

    Academic text (2002)
  • The soldier received several floggings for his repeated offenses against military discipline.

  • During the trial, the judge ordered floggings as a punishment for the defendant's violent behavior.

Synonyms

beating
vsflogging
  • NSFW
276 4.2

Hitting a person many times as punishment or violence

is narrower, referring to punishment with whip, strap, or rope specifically
whipping
vsflogging
  • Offensive
22 3.8

Beating a person or animal with a whip as punishment

is the same act named in more general or historical terms
corporal punishment
vsflogging
  • Offensive
11 5.7

Physical hitting of a person to make them obey rules

is a specific type of that physical punishment using whip or strap
lashing
vsflogging
  • NSFW
6 7.0

Beating someone with a whip or strap as punishment

is the same physical punishment often described in historical contexts
thrashing
vsflogging
  • Offensive
6 6.7

A severe beating given to someone as punishment

emphasizes the formal instrument and legal aspect of punishment rather than intensity
flagellation
vsflogging
  • Offensive
4 9.9

Beating the body as a religious ceremony, as punishment, or for sexual pleasure

is limited to punishment use and excludes ritual or sexual contexts
caning
vsflogging
  • NSFW
4 6.9

To punish someone by hitting them with a stick

uses a different instrument, while the key focuses on whip or strap punishment
tanning
vsflogging
  • NSFW
1 9.9

A beating with a strap or rope given as punishment

is the standard term for that formal punitive beating
bastinado
vsflogging
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A punishment that involves beating the soles of someone's feet with a stick

is broader, applying to beating the whole body with a whip or strap
lacing
vsflogging
  • Offensive
9.4

A severe beating that someone gets as punishment

focuses specifically on punishment by whip, strap, or rope rather than any blows
horsewhipping
vsflogging
  • Offensive
9.6

An act of hitting someone with a long leather whip as punishment

uses similar instruments but does not require a horsewhip specifically

Antonyms

328 1.3

To give something to someone to thank them for doing something good

211 3.0

To forgive someone for a small mistake or rude act

How Severe

torture
  • Offensive
262 7.1
flogging
  • NSFW
1 8.0
caning
  • NSFW
4 6.9
spanking
33 4.8
slap
110 1.0

Surface Forms

flogging singular
floggings plural

Morphology

flogging = flog (transparent) = flog + ing

A straightforward nominalization/gerund from the verb 'flog' with the productive suffix '-ing', so the meaning is directly derived from the base verb.

Etymology

Flogging comes from the older English verb flog, which meant 'to beat' and may come from the sound of a strike or a whip. So flogging still means 'beating someone with a whip or strap'.