flagellation

[ flaj-uh-ley-shuh n ]

/ ˌflædʒ əˈleɪ ʃən /

the act or process of flagellating.

a masochistic or sadistic act in which the participants receive erotic stimulation from whipping or being whipped.

Nearby words

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin flagellātiōn-, stem of flagellātiō. See flagellate, -ion

self-flag·el·la·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

When you've had your worst week of the campaign, to submit yourself to two or three more days of flagellation?
You Know You've Had a Bad Week When...|Michael Tomasky|September 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The later influence visible in the above-mentioned "Flagellation," as throughout all his work, is that of Antonio Pollaiuolo.
Luca Signorelli|Maud Cruttwell
Can flagellation, fasting, Nor fervent prayer itself, not cleanse my soul From its fond doting on her comeliness?
The Scarlet Stigma|James Edgar Smith
The poor fellow was writhing under the cruel infliction of a flagellation with a raw-hide, and rent the air with his cries.
An Englishman's Travels in America|John Benwell

They spoke only on Sundays and festivals, and underwent a weekly flagellation.
Curiosities of Christian History|Croake James
Flagellation draws the circulation from the centre of our system to its periphery.
Curiosities of Medical Experience|J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen

[ flăj′ə-lā′shən ]

Whipping oneself or another as a means of arousing or heightening sexual feeling.

The flagellar arrangement on an organism.