Definition of cat-o'-nine-tails in US English:

noun

• A rope whip with nine knotted cords, formerly used (especially at sea) to flog offenders.

  Example sentences

  • ‘Jesus is beaten with canes, then with an early version of a cat-o'-nine-tails.’
  • ‘Selina ignored him, but I thought I could detect a hint of longing in the way she fingered the whip looped at her belt (a cat-o'-nine-tails).’
  • ‘Volney claimed that prisons officials were asking judges not to impose the cat-o'-nine-tails since they could not find them.’
  • ‘Flogging with the cat-o'-nine-tails and hanging were the major punishments.’
  • ‘A moment later, another of the invaders lashed him with a peculiar weapon that looked something like a cat-o'-nine-tails.’

  Synonyms

  whip, horsewhip, bullwhip, switch, scourge, flagellum, cat, thong, flail, strap, birch, cane

  View synonyms