flogv.
/flɒɡ/, U.S. /flɑɡ/ 1. absolute.1727 J. Swift Molly Mog iv The School-Master's joy is to flog.1887 L. Stephen in Dict. National Biogr. XI. 303 Boyer flogged pitilessly.
a. transitive. To beat, whip; to chastise with repeated blows of a rod or whip.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > administer corporal punishment [verb (transitive)] > beat
threshOE
beatc1000
to lay on?c1225
chastise1362
rapa1400
dressc1405
lack?c1475
paya1500
currya1529
coil1530
cuff1530
baste1533
thwack1533
lick1535
firka1566
trounce1568
fight1570
course1585
bumfeage1589
feague1589
lamback1589
lambskin1589
tickle1592
thrash1593
lam1595
bumfeagle1598
comb1600
fer1600
linge1600
taw1600
tew1600
thrum1604
feeze1612
verberate1614
fly-flap1620
tabor1624
lambaste1637
feak1652
flog1676
to tan (a person's) hide1679
slipper1682
liquora1689
curry-comb1708
whack1721
rump1735
screenge1787
whale1790
lather1797
tat1819
tease1819
larrup1823
warm1824
haze1825
to put (a person) through a course of sprouts1839
flake1841
swish1856
hide1875
triangle1879
to give (a person or thing) gyp1887
soak1892
to loosen (a person's) hide1902
1676 E. Coles Eng. Dict. Flog, to whip [marked as a cant word].
1734 Round about Coal Fire (ed. 4) ii. 11 Then I was as certainly flogged.
1785 W. Cowper Tirocinium in Task 329 How he was flogged, or had the luck to escape. View more context for this quotation
1809 Ld. Byron Let. 25 June (1973) I. 210 The women..are flogged at the cart's tail.
1830 F. Marryat King's Own I. i. 11 A man sentenced to be flogged round the fleet, receives an equal part of the whole number of lashes awarded alongside each ship composing that fleet.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxxiii. 194 Tom shall have the pleasure of flogging her.
1881 W. Besant & J. Rice Chaplain of Fleet I. iii. 49 Is it not barbarous to flog our soldiers and sailors for insubordination?
b. Const. into, out of, through.
ΚΠ
1830 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 56/2 Providence flogged him [Richter] into contentment.
1852 F. E. Smedley Lewis Arundel i. 19 I have not forgotten the Greek and Latin flogged into us at Westminster.
1886 J. Westby-Gibson in Dict. National Biogr. VI. 42/1 What he knew of mathematics he was ‘flogged through’.
1887 H. Caine Life Coleridge i. 21 I'll flog your infidelity out of you!
c. To urge forward (a horse, etc.) by flogging. Also figurative. (In early 19th cent. to urge on by importunity, etc.) Also (frequently intransitive) in slang use: (a) to proceed by violent or painful effort; (b) to obtain, usually by violent effort.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > motivate [verb (transitive)] > incite or instigate > try to persuade
stirc1380
pressc1440
fanda1500
attempta1547
invite1548
procure1551
to threap (something) upon1571
to set upon ——1652
flog1793
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > herd
herdc1475
travel1576
pastor1587
drove1776
flog1793
tail1844
work1878
work1879
trail1906
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > urge on > in specific way
gee-up1752
flog1841
shove1869
knee1924
society > travel > [verb (intransitive)] > toilsomely
swinkc1175
labourc1438
toil1563
jaunt1575
strivea1586
tug1619
swog1637
hag1728
flog1925
to lame-duck it1943
trog1984
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > obtain or acquire in a certain way > by care or effort > by exertion
to dig upc1400
to dig outa1425
tuga1657
rustle1844
to scare up1846
quarry1847
flog1959
1793 Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1799) I. 111 Two of the largest [turkeys]..were flogged up into the boot of a mail-coach.
1800 I. Milner in M. Milner Life I. Milner (1842) xii. 220 I was flogged by good Richardson..to let him have the Life.
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. ii. 31 To flog yourself up into an inclination to work in your garden.
1841 G. P. R. James Brigand iii Take off the bridles of their horses, and flog them down the valley.
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 96 To flog,..to walk; go on foot.—e.g., ‘There was no train so we flogged it.’
1936 Geogr. Jrnl. 87 166 We had to flog our way through snow up to our waists.
1943 N. Coward Middle East Diary 26 Aug. (1944) 64 Visualised himself flogging through the provinces in Shakespearian Rep. indefinitely.
1959 B. Goolden For Richer, for Poorer viii. 121 A sports model out of which they could flog eighty with ease.
1964 Times 11 Feb. 11/6 [Lorry drivers] are being encouraged to ‘flog on’ even in bad weather.
d. figurative in phrases, to flog the glass (see quot.); to flog the clock, to move the hands forward; to flog a dead horse: see horse n. 19.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > [verb (intransitive)] > turn hourglass
to flog the glass1769
the world > time > reckoning of time > reckon or measure time [verb (intransitive)] > advance the time illegitimately
to flog the glass1769
to warm the bell1924
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [verb (intransitive)] > move the hands or be set
to flog the clock1894
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Manger du sable, to flog the glass, or cheat the glass; expressed of the steersman, who turns the watch-glasses before they have run out, to shorten the period of his watch.
1894 Daily Chron. 4 Aug. 3/5 I got suspicious that it [the clock] was being flogged—that is, altered—in the interest of making the time of those in the mate's watch shorter.
2. figurative.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
a. slang. To ‘beat’, excel.
b. dialect in passive. To tire (out.) Cf. dead beat adj.2
ΚΠ
a1841 T. Hook (Ogilv.) Good cherry-bounce flogs all the foreign trash in the world.
1847 J. S. Le Fanu T. O'Brien 253 Of all the brimstone spawn that I ever came across that same she-devil flogs them.
1875 W. D. Parish Dict. Sussex Dial. (at cited word) I was fairly flogged by the time I got home.
1883 E. A. Freeman in W. R. W. Stephens Life & Lett. E. A. Freeman (1895) II. 274 I think for position it flogs every place I know.
1924 R. Kipling Debits & Credits (1926) 132 I went to bed; for I was fair flogged out.
c. slang (originally Military). To sell or offer for sale, originally illicitly.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > sell [verb (transitive)]
to sell awayc1230
to set to (for, on) sale, a-salec1275
sella1330
to make sale (of)c1430
market1455
to make penny of1464
vent1478
to put away1574
dispatch1592
money1598
vent1602
to put off1631
vend1651
hawk1713
realize1720
mackle1724
neat1747
to sell over1837
unload1884
flog1919
move1938
shift1976
1919 [implied in: War Terms in Athenæum 1 Aug. 695/2 ‘Flogging’, the illegal disposal of Army goods. (at flogging n. 2d)].
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 96 To flog, to sell something not the vendor's own to dispose of.
1951 G. Hanley Consul at Sunset 125 He was dead... His kit was collected and flogged to those who would buy it in the mess.
1966 J. Porter Sour Cream x. 134 Filching state property and flogging it to the eager populace is a common enough crime in the Soviet Union as it was with us during the war.
1967 M. Drabble Jerusalem the Golden v. 112 Let's go..and look at the ghastly thing that Martin flogged us.
3.
a. In general sense: To beat, lash, strike; also with down. Fishing. To cast the fly-line over (a stream) repeatedly; also absol. Cricket. To ‘punish’ (bowling).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)]
abeatOE
beatc1000
dingc1300
dintc1300
bulka1400
batc1440
hampera1529
pommel1530
lump1546
pummel1548
bebatter1567
filch1567
peal-pelt1582
reverberate1599
vapulate1603
over-labour1632
polt1652
bepat1676
flog1801
quilt1822
meller1862
tund1885
massage1924
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [verb (transitive)] > cast
throw?a1425
whip1832
flog1859
cast1892
shoot1931
roll cast1972
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > bowl [verb (transitive)] > bowl in specific manner
twist1816
overthrow1833
to bowl over the wicket1851
overpitch1851
bump1869
york1882
to break a ball1884
flog1884
to bowl round (or formerly outside) the wicket1887
turn1898
flick1902
curl1904
spin1904
volley1909
flight1912
to give (a ball) air1920
tweak1935
move1938
overspin1940
swing1948
bounce1960
cut1960
seam1963
dolly1985
1801 ‘P. Pindar’ Tears & Smiles 58 As schoolboys flog a top.
1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow (ed. 2) I. v. 51 The vessel so flogged by the waves.
1853 J. F. W. Herschel Pop. Lect. Sci. (1873) i. §23. 17 Trees were seen to flog the ground with their branches.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany v. 56 Trout streams, which have not yet been flogged by cockneys.
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling ix. 288 A salmon..bullied into rising by an obstinate customer who..kept flogging on.
1884 I. Bligh in James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Ann. i. ii. 10 Bonnor..flogged the bowling to the extent of 54.
1892 E. Whymper Trav. Andes iii. 68 The only possible way of proceeding was to flog every yard of it [the snow] down.
b. intransitive. Of a sail: To beat or flap heavily.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > support (an amount of) sail [verb (intransitive)] > shake or flap (of sails)
shake1769
shiver1769
flog1839
slat1840
1839 F. Marryat Phantom Ship II. xxii. 224 The storm-staysail..flogged and cracked with a noise even louder than the gale.
Compounds
flog-master n. a prison flogger.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > [noun] > official who administers
scourger1580
flesh-dresser1620
drubman1629
flogging-cove1699
flog-mastera1704
flagellant1876
a1704 T. Brown Lett. from Dead (new ed.) in Wks. (1707) II. ii. 102 Busby was never a greater Terror to a Block-head, or the Bridewell Flog-master to a Nightwalking Strumpet.
Derivatives
flogged adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > [adjective] > that has been beaten
chastisedc1440
scourged1543
coiled1569
lashed1611
well-disciplined1660
flogged1836
lickeda1896
tanned1905
1836 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) IV. 99 Keeping us what Mr. Cobbett denominated ‘a flogged people’.
1891 Sat. Rev. 21 Mar. 343/2 The blood of flogged boys.
ˈflogging adj.
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society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > [adjective] > that beats
swingeinga1614
flauging1682
flogging1682
1682 T. D'Urfey Injured Princess i. i. 6 Ask him if he knows where we may find a sound Wench: he's a flauging old Whipster, I warrant him.
1884 Athenæum 19 July 75/3 He undergoes brutal treatment from a flogging master.
Draft additions September 2018
figurative.
a. transitive (reflexive). To blame, reproach, or criticize oneself; to feel severe guilt for one's actions or behaviour. Usually with complement indicating the reason for such feelings.
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the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > reproach > [verb (reflexive)]
reproach1561
flog1847
1847 Lincoln, Rutland, & Stamford Mercury 6 Aug. We hear that a large quantity of old wheat is yet in the hands of several farmers on the Trent-side, and that some of them are flogging themselves severely for not selling when prices were 50s. a quarter higher.
1891 Jrnl. Hort., Cottage Gardener & Home Farmer 22 Oct. 346/2 In his confusion he left the box of ‘spares’ behind him at the railway station near Birch, and it is quite certain he flogged himself about it, although his kind and considerate master took it calmly enough.
1944 Washington Post 1 Oct. 3 s/7 You would shrink from his embraces, be unfaithful to him in thought, flog yourself with remorse.
1960 G. H. McMurry Call to Murralla x. 325 You must remember it was an accident. You must not flog yourself about it.
2006 Prevention Jan. 73/1 Time to flog myself for everything else that I hadn't done but should've.
b. transitive (reflexive). To work extremely hard. Also transitive with simple object: to force (someone) to work extremely hard.
ΚΠ
1931 Manch. Guardian 19 Feb. 6/3 I always say it's a great mistake to go on flogging yourself when you're all wrought up. Besides,..you can do your work just whenever you like.
1965 Financial Times 5 Jan. 1/4 If they work on Saturdays and Sundays, it means they are flogging themselves pretty hard.
1998 Sunday Mirror (Nexis) 14 June 28 I used to flog the players in training the next morning.
2014 M. Lee Man without Mercy i. 8 He'd been flogging himself for two decades, working six and sometimes seven days a week, making millions in the process. Why shouldn't he indulge himself for once?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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