knout
1 of 2noun
ˈnau̇t 
sometimes
ˈnüt plural knouts
: a flogging whip with a lash of leather thongs twisted with wire used (as in czarist Russia) for punishing criminals
knout
2 of 2verb
knouted; knouting; knouts
transitive verb
: to strike with a knout : to punish by whipping
Even when he is happy, David Tell looks like a minor figure in one of those Russian novels where someone is found hanged in the orchard around about page 632 and the serfs are knouted every couple of chapters.
Michael Kelly
Michael Kelly
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Russian knut, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse knūtr knot; akin to Old English cnotta
First Known Use
Noun
1716, in the meaning defined above
Verb
1768, in the meaning defined above
knouts 1 of 2
noun
as in straps
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- straps
- cat-o'-nine-tails
- blacksnakes
- crops
- quirts
- hickories
- birches
- bullwhips
- rattans
- bastinadoes
- billy clubs
- rawhides
- bastinades
- whips
- cowhides
- switches
- lashes
- floggers
- staves
- nightsticks
- scourges
- batons
- bludgeons
- canes
- cudgels
- bats
- billies
- flails
- staffs
- clubs
knouts
2 of 2verb
as in quirts
Synonyms & Similar Words
- straps
- quirts
- horsewhips
- switches
- hides
- lashes
- leathers
- flagellates
- slashes
- scourges
- whales
- whips
- birches
- touches up
- cowhides
- flails
- tans
- thrashes
- flogs
- fustigates
- flicks
- rawhides
- pistol-whips
- works over
- cuts
- clubs
- canes
- boxes
- cudgels
- blackjacks
- socks
- cuffs
- clips
- hits
- smacks
- knocks
- slugs
- clouts
- slaps
- bangs
- claps
- punches
- lams
- slates
- spanks
- thwacks
- paddles
- whacks
- belts
- swipes
- wallops
- licks
- threshes
- buffets
- pounds
- bats
- clobbers
- pommels
- swats
- cracks
- hammers
- bludgeons
- mauls
- thumps
- pelts
- smites
- pastes
- pummels
- bops
- batters
- lathers
- busts
- laces
- drubs
- bungs
- bashes
- mangles
- whups
- roughs
- lambastes
- bastes
- fibs
- belabors
- slogs
- whaps
- beats
- whops
- lambasts
- tromps
