cat-o'-nine-tails

American  

[kat-uh-nahyn-teylz] / ˌkæt əˈnaɪnˌteɪlz /

noun

plural

cat-o'-nine-tails

1. a whip, usually having nine knotted lines or cords fastened to a handle, used for flogging.

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cat-o'-nine-tails British  

noun

1. Often shortened to: cat.  a rope whip consisting of nine knotted thongs, used formerly to flog prisoners

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Etymology

Origin of cat-o'-nine-tails

First recorded in 1685–95; so called in allusion to a cat's scratches

Example Sentences

In “Blacklash,” from 1964, Mr. Clark signals racial anger with his title and a splatter of black paint that fans against red and white, like a cat-o’-nine-tails.

From New York Times • Sep. 27, 2018

That is at football, by the way, not just the nation's game but its sackcloth and ashes, its cat-o'-nine-tails, its hemlock on the bedside table.

From The Guardian • Mar. 22, 2011

But after 22 months, what the President's committee had to report amounted to the greatest change in service custom since the abandonment of the cat-o'-nine-tails.

From Time Magazine Archive

If Mr. Douglas does not make Wall Street dance to his cat-o'-nine-tails, they will soon turn upon him as bitterly as they did on Chairman Landis, making his public life a burden to him.

From Time Magazine Archive

The dirty little children didn’t do that, but they threw their orders around the Store like lashes from a cat-o’-nine-tails.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

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