cat-o'-nine-tails
noun
ˌka-tə-ˈnīn-ˌtālz 
plural cat-o'-nine-tails
: a whip made of usually nine knotted lines or cords fastened to a handle
Word History
Etymology
from the resemblance of its scars to the scratches of a cat
First Known Use
1665, in the meaning defined above
cat-o'-nine-tails
noun
as in strap
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- strap
- hickory
- birch
- crop
- knout
- rattan
- quirt
- rawhide
- bullwhip
- blacksnake
- billy club
- cowhide
- whip
- bastinade
- switch
- lash
- billy
- scourge
- staff
- flogger
- bat
- cane
- baton
- cudgel
- bludgeon
- flail
- nightstick
- club
- bastinado
- self-confrontation
- self-congratulation
- self-congratulatory
- self-conscious
- self-consciously
- self-consciousness
- self-consecration
- self-consecrations
- self-consequence
- self-consistency
- self-consistent
- paralegals
- paraleipses
- paraleipsis
- paralepses
- paralepsis
- paralgesia
- paralgesic
- paralic
- Paralichthys
- paralichthyses
- paralimnetic
- paralimnion
- paralinguistic
- paralinguistics