knout
- noun
- /naʊt/
- NSFW
:
knut
- Many historical accounts describe the knout as a feared tool of punishment in the 19th century.
Examples
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That was always the low productivity issue with slavery: why exert any more effort chopping that cotton than necessary to keep the man with the knout away? You're not going to get any more grits no matter how hard you work?
Blog text (16) -
You're visioning him being lashed with that knout.
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The cruel punishment involved striking the prisoners with a knout made of leather thongs.
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In Russia, the knout was often used to instill fear among the prisoners during their sentences.
Synonyms
13
7.2
A strip of leather for beating someone as punishment
6
7.4
A narrow leather strip used for tying or fastening things
4
6.3
The flexible leather strip at the end of a whip
2
9.6
A long leather whip that people use to punish someone
A leather strap once used to hit students as punishment in schools
A device that crushes thumbs to punish or make people confess
Surface Forms
Etymology
Knout comes from the Russian word кнут, which means 'whip' and is linked to the idea of a 'knot' or 'twist', like the English word knot. So a knout is a heavy, knotted whip once used in Russia to punish people.