lash
/laʃ
/verb
1 [with object] Strike or beat with a whip or stick: they lashed him repeatedly about the head...
- He was forced to farm Arab fields, tied at night, beaten and lashed with a whip for about a year.
- When he was lashing me with his whip, it hurt a lot.
- Lauren ignored him and picked up a whip, lashing him again and again until he opened a wound that went to bone.
Synonyms
whip, flog, beat, thrash, horsewhip, scourge, birch, switch, flay, belt, strap, cane, leather;
strike, hit, clout, batter, welt, hammer, pummel, belabour
informal wallop, whack, lam, tan someone's hide, give someone a (good) hiding, larrup
North American informal whale
archaic smite, stripe, flagellate
1.1Beat forcefully against: waves lashed the coast...
- Officials are warning of flash floods and mud slides, and the outer bands of Ivan are lashing Jamaica with torrential rain and huge waves.
- In neighbouring Botswana torrential rains that have lashed the southern, central and eastern parts of the country are now moving towards tourist destinations in the west.
- Richard walks along a barren Irish coast in the rain, waves lashing against his long black coat!
Synonyms
beat against, dash against, crash against, pound, batter, buffet, smack against, strike, hit, knock
1.2 (lash someone into) Drive someone into (a particular state or condition): fear lashed him into a frenzy...
- But it proved nothing more than a false note as they were lashed into submission by the boundary-belting cyclone that is Kevin Pietersen.
- From the moment Zurawski lashed them into the lead in the 13 th minute, they were not in the remotest danger of dropping points, a fact that was not lost on the Aberdeen manager, Jimmy Calderwood.
- Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Synonyms
provoke, incite, arouse, excite, agitate, stir up, whip up, work up, egg on, goad
2 [with object] (Of an animal) move (a part of the body, especially the tail) quickly and violently: the cat was lashing its tail back and forth...
- As much as we like to imagine sauropods stamping their feet and lashing their tails to drive off the vicious theropod predators, the scenario is unlikely for a simple reason.
- Jinx realized with a shock that he was still in a predatory, feline crouch, lashing his tail agitatedly, the claws on his feet digging into the dirt.
- He was behind me, still lashing his tail worriedly.
Synonyms
swish, flick, twitch, switch, whip, wave, wag
2.1 [no object] (Of a part of an animal’s body) move quickly and violently: the cat’s tail lashed furiously from side to side...
- Nogar snapped back, his tail lashing furiously.
- Tail lashing furiously, Kobi stood in the same spot for a moment more.
- Kobi was practically hissing at this point, his tail lashing furiously behind him.
3 [with object and adverbial] Fasten (something) securely with a cord or rope: the hatch was securely lashed down he lashed the flag to the mast...
- With much heaving and sweating, and a few choice cuss words, he got it wedged up under the axle, and, with the rope from his saddle, he lashed it securely in place.
- I knew it was coming to rescue us so I took down the sail and mast, took up the centerboard and brought in the rudder and lashed it all secure.
- Larger beams can be ‘stressed’ by lashing them with heavy chains.
Synonyms
fasten, bind, tie, tie up, tether, hitch, attach, knot, rope, strap, leash, truss, fetter, make fast, secure;
chain, pinion, join, connect, couple
noun
1A sharp blow or stroke with a whip or rope: he was sentenced to fifty lashes for his crime figurative she felt the lash of my tongue...
- Women, as well as their accomplices, found guilty of this crime received fifty lashes.
- Foreigners unfamiliar with local customs often find themselves tied to a post and receiving fifty lashes.
- In support of his case, the elder of the two men claimed he'd been sentenced to 300 lashes and sacked from his job after raping several young men at his workplace.
Synonyms
stroke, blow, hit, strike, welt, bang, thwack, thump
informal swipe, wallop, whack
archaic stripe
1.1The flexible leather part of a whip, used for administering blows: he brought the lash down upon the prisoner’s back...
- I looked up as he came closer, but Andreus coiled up the lash into a plaited leather loop and hit me across the back of the neck with it, forcing my eyes back down.
- It is not frail and infirm, it is a fighting machine. Entrenched in filth in the centre of the aisle it will without warning extend its wooden lash and administer a swift but excruciating rap to the back of the legs.
- My fingers are still dripping wet, but the handle to the lash is gripped to prevent it from slipping free from my slick, white scales.
1.2 (the lash) Punishment in the form of a beating with a whip or rope: they were living under the threat of the lash...
- Zhu Ke, the writer, said the substitution of the lash for crueler corporal punishments revealed a forward movement of civilization.
- Masters served their slaves, accepting taunts and insults that would be punished by the lash or death any other time of year.
- His convicts were more useful to society as workers than as objects of penal punishment; the lash became an element in labour relations.
Synonyms
whip, horsewhip, bullwhip, switch, scourge, flagellum, cat-o'-nine-tails, cat, thong, flail, strap, birch, cane
historical knout
2 (usually lashes) An eyelash: she fluttered her long dark lashes...
- If you want to really get girly, use an eyelash curler for lusher-looking lashes.
- There's nothing more ageing and unattractive than eyes framed by dark smudges or clogged lashes, so I've asked a couple of top make-up artists to share their secrets with us.
- Speaking quietly, his huge chocolate-coloured eyes fringed by dark lashes, he looks the picture of peaceful, healthy youth.
Phrases
be (or go) on the lash
have a lash at
Phrasal verbs
lash down
lash out
Derivatives
lasher
/ noun ...- When I first began using the lasher it was to catch small roach, rudd and bream from the lakes at Longleat in Wiltshire whilst on holiday.
lashless
- Salvador Dali, for instance, praised ‘the anaesthetic stare of the extremely clear eye - the lashless eye of Zeiss.’
- They have brownish fur; large, dark, lashless eyes; short, bare ears; and a large, wet nose pad, like a pencil eraser on the tip of a long muzzle.
- That summer his brown, very round, almost lashless eyes were barely able to contain some deep reservoir of feeling.
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'make a sudden movement'): probably imitative.