as in whipping
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible
some medieval monks believed it was necessary to flagellate themselves in order to keep their desires in check
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Recent Examples of flagellating
His only way of finding any kind of life for himself is to embrace evil, to stop running away from it, to try to stop morally flagellating himself.
—
Charlotte Observer, 25 Feb. 2026
Charlotte Observer, 25 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flagellating
Verb
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Like Apollo 13, Artemis II will take advantage of the moon’s and Earth’s gravity, making a figure 8 after whipping around the moon to head home in what’s known as a free-return trajectory requiring little if any fuel.—
Marcia Dunn,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Mar. 2026
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Like Apollo 13, Artemis II will take advantage of the moon and Earth’s gravity, making a figure eight after whipping around the moon to head home in what’s known as a free-return trajectory requiring little if any fuel.—
Marcia Dunn,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Under her tenure, the Department has lost centuries of professional experience, willfully violated federal law and judicial orders alike, while at the same time, hiding millions of documents linked to the Epstein files in a massive cover-up.—
Dan Mangan,
CNBC,
2 Apr. 2026
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Grass lines in 8 to 15 feet of water make a perfect location for ambushing their prey and hiding from other predatory fish like muskies.—
Derek Horner,
Outdoor Life,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Attributing the budget-slashing move to an overall decrease in enrollment caused by fluctuating demographics, restrictions on international students and skyrocketing tuition costs, the New School is becoming part of a trend across higher education.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
27 Mar. 2026
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Warsh has committed to slashing the Fed's balance sheet.—
Steve Liesman,Matt Peterson,
CNBC,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The president of a labor union representing Transportation Security Administration employees is lashing out at lawmakers, telling them not to leave Washington, DC, for Easter recess before passing a deal to pay its agents amid the ongoing partial government shutdown.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
25 Mar. 2026
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How this showdown plays out will affect not only Anthropic’s booming business but also the way tech titans and other corporations work with an administration known for lashing out at resisters, said Alan Rozenshtein, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Maza drew in Hamburg players before flicking the ball on for Kofane, who lashed it into the top-left corner.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Mar. 2026
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The name Dekopin in Japanese refers to flicking someone on the forehead with a finger, typically as a lighthearted punishment or joke.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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None of it means that much to Aleida, who, like Kelly, is quietly flailing a bit.—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
27 Mar. 2026
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In these latest cuts, some of the other firings were in sales, recruiting, and Facebook, signaling that Zuckerberg is separating the chaff in non-AI related units beyond its flailing Metaverse division.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Examples include a husband having the legal right to restrict his wife’s travel and employment, unequal divorce rights and punishment for appearing in public without a hijab ranging from fines to prison time to flogging.—
Ellie Austin,
Fortune,
21 Jan. 2026
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Others have called out the boring marketing campaign based around flogging variants in order for Swift to finally beat the record for the biggest opening sales week for a female artist in history (currently held by Adele, which she is likely projected to break).—
Bianca Davino,
Refinery29,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Airlines across the region, like Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific are slapping hefty fuel surcharges on flights; Vietnam and the Philippines are even weighing whether to ground planes.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
29 Mar. 2026
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But every so often there comes a day that is so different—so unusual—so spectacular that its happening can only be chalked up to old-fashioned, knee-slapping good luck.—
Letters to the Editor,
Hartford Courant,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flagellating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flagellating. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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