horsewhipping

verb

present participle of horsewhip
as in whipping
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible the pirate captain threatened to horsewhip any of his crew who questioned his orders

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for horsewhipping
  1. whipping
  2. hiding
  3. slashing
  4. lashing
  5. flagellating
  6. flicking
Verb
  • Onstage, Shakira unleashed her inner rock star during the song, working the stage and the mic stand in a purple corset and matching fringe pants and whipping her lengthy curls like a weapon.
    — Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 7 July 2026
  • Olise kept his intentions hidden to the last, shaping up to cross the ball to the back post before sharply turning his hips and whipping his pass into the goalscorer’s path, breaking two defensive lines along the way.
    — Thom Harris, New York Times, 4 July 2026
Definition of whipping
Verb
  • Failing to disclose or intentionally hiding assets can make a prenup more vulnerable to being challenged in court.
    — Jasmin Suknanan, CNBC, 6 July 2026
  • The find suggests one of NASA’s most successful planet hunters may still have plenty of surprises hiding in its archives.
    — Sam Macdonald, Scientific American, 6 July 2026
Definition of hiding
Verb
  • Then Ferrari’s team reboots the underlying technology—centralizing server costs, cleaning up sprawling codebases—while slashing costs.
    — Chris Dobstaff, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • Higgins said her solution is to speed up permitting by slashing red tape — both for these types of large, city projects and for home and business owners trying to install resilient upgrades.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026
Definition of slashing
Verb
  • Back at the dilapidated family home, Edgar grows even surlier, lashing into gentle-natured Joe for being an under-achiever compared to his brother and causing Thya to become apprehensive about Ed’s proximity to sharp objects.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026
  • Unfortunately, this can lead to some individuals lashing out in response to their own insecurities, hate and low bar of aptitude, which is confirmed by the tenor of the attacks.
    — Jallicia Jolly, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Definition of lashing
Verb
  • Some go further, flagellating themselves or using a sword to strike their forehead to draw blood.
    — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2026
  • 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, Charlotte Observer, 25 Feb. 2026
Definition of flagellating
Verb
  • The Argentine legend unlocked the Cape Verde defense in the 29th minute, controlling a long diagonal pass with one touch in the box and promptly flicking it over the head of a charging Vozinha.
    — Jacob Lev, CNN Money, 3 July 2026
  • Mayele put Congo ahead 10 minutes later when flicking past Nematov at the near post and was mobbed by teammates and even substitutes, who raced off the bench and across the field to join in the wild celebrations.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 28 June 2026
Definition of flicking
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

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horsewhipping
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Cite this Entry

“Horsewhipping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/horsewhipping. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on horsewhipping

Nglish: Translation of horsewhipping for Spanish Speakers

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