knout
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)
- a whip with a lash of leather thongs twisted with wire; used for flogging prisonersType of whip
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Knout (nout or no͞ot), noun
Origin: Russ. knut'; prob. of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. knut knot, knout, Icel. knūtr knot: cf. F. knout. See Knot.
A kind of whip for flogging criminals, formerly much used in Russia. The lash is a tapering bundle of leather thongs twisted with wire and hardened, so that it mangles the flesh.
Knout transitive verb
To punish with the knout. Lord Henry Brougham
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54