lash
/læʃ/ noun, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms lashes lashing lashed
- noun The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given.
- noun (obsolete) A leash in which an animal is caught or held; hence, a snare.
- noun A stroke with a whip, or anything pliant and tough, often given as a punishment. “The culprit received thirty-nine lashes.”
- noun A quick and violent sweeping movement, as of an animal's tail; a swish.
- noun A stroke of satire or sarcasm; an expression or retort that cuts or gives pain; a cut.
- noun A hair growing from the edge of the eyelid; an eyelash.
- noun In carpet weaving, a group of strings for lifting simultaneously certain yarns, to form the figure.
- noun (botany) Flowering plants of genus Blepharis.
- verb (transitive) To strike with a lash; to whip or scourge with a lash, or with something like one.
- verb (transitive) To strike forcibly and quickly, as with a lash; to beat, or beat upon, with a motion like that of a lash. “Heavy seas lashed the shore.”
- verb (transitive) To throw out with a jerk or quickly.
- verb (transitive) To scold; or to satirize; to censure with severity.
- verb (intransitive) To ply the whip; to strike.
- verb (intransitive) To strike vigorously; to let fly.
- verb (intransitive) To utter censure or sarcastic language.
- verb (intransitive, of rain) To fall heavily, especially in the phrase lash down.
- verb (transitive) To bind with a rope, cord, thong, or chain, so as to fasten.
- adjective (obsolete) Remiss, lax.
- adjective (obsolete) Relaxed.
- adjective Soft, watery, wet.
Synonyms
bash whip berate at fault blameworthy neglectful negligent reprehensible airy at ease at peace carefree careless casual chill cool devil-may-care easy-breezy easygoing happy-go-lucky eyelash cilium thong whiplash flog welt lather slash strap trounce
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English lashe, lasshe, lasche (“a stroke; the flexible end of a whip”), from Proto-Germanic *laskô (“flap of fabric, strap”).
Cognate with Dutch lasch, las (“a piece; seal; joint; notch; seam”), German Low German Laske, Lask (“a flap; dag; strap”), German Lasche (“a flap; joint; strap; tongue; scarf”), Swedish lask (“scarf”), Icelandic laski (“the bottom part of a glove”).
From Middle French lachier, from Old French lacier (“to lace”).
From Old French lasche (French lâche).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given.
- noun A leash in which an animal is caught or held; hence, a snare.
- verb To strike with a lash ; to whip or scourge with a lash, or with something like one. We lash the pupil, and defraud the ward. Dryden.
- verb To strike forcibly and quickly, as with a lash; to beat, or beat upon, with a motion like that of a lash; as, a whale lashes the sea with his tail.
Etymology [OE. lasche; cf. D. lasch piece set in, joint, seam, G. lashe latchet, a bit of leather, gusset, stripe, laschen to furnish with flaps, to lash or slap, Icel. laski gusset, flap, laska to break.]
Etymology [Cf. D. lasschen to fasten together, lasch piece, joint, Sw. laska to stitch, Dan. laske stitch. See Lash, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lash”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details