flog

[ flog, flawg ]

See synonyms for: flog flogged flogging flogger on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),flogged, flog·ging.

to beat with a whip, stick, etc., especially as punishment; whip; scourge.
Slang.
- to sell, especially aggressively or vigorously.
- to promote; publicize.

Origin of flog

First recorded in 1670–80; perhaps blend of flay and jog, variant of jag¹ “to prick, slash”; but cf. flagellate

Other words for flog

1	thrash, lash

See synonyms for flog on Thesaurus.com

Other words from flog

flog·ga·ble, adjective
flog·ger, noun
o·ver·flog, verb (used with object), o·ver·flogged, o·ver·flog·ging.
un·flog·ga·ble, adjective

Words Nearby flog

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use flog in a sentence

It gave him the plausible deniability he and his defenders flogged throughout his presidency.
The GOP’s many allusions to armed revolution and justified violence | Aaron Blake | October 28, 2021 | Washington Post
He flogged people with his own hands, sometimes until they were dead, Grandy wrote.
The Great Dismal Swamp was a refuge for the enslaved. Their descendants want to preserve it. | Meagan Flynn | April 11, 2021 | Washington Post
But how hard is it to make a doll that looks like the picture of the doll you are using to flog the doll itself?
ROFL : Dubious Prince William Doll Advert Banned For Not Being Accurate Representation | Tom Sykes | October 11, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
But now, in the present climate, the number is handy for the Pentagon to flog around town, so there it is.
Michael Tomasky: Politico Assists Pentagon Scaremongering | Michael Tomasky | November 23, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
All I can say is, that I wish he was well, and could have us up and flog us all round, and so settle the matter off-hand.
Digby Heathcote | W.H.G. Kingston

Thus the game was played to the end, it being a flog out from New Brighton to the Formby, and a run back each round.
Yachting Vol. 2 | Various.
He carried an ash-plant in his hand to flog the horse and to strike at the dogs that crossed his way.
The King of Ireland's Son | Padraic Colum
He was minded to flog an Indian or two, and thus extract information; but calmer counsels prevailed.
The Terms of Surrender | Louis Tracy
The masters here are very strict indeed, but they never flog, only lock them up in a dungeon, and have a soldier to guard it.
The Story of the "Britannia" | E. P. Statham

British Dictionary definitions for flog

flog

/ (flɒɡ) /

verbflogs, flogging or flogged

(tr) to beat harshly, esp with a whip, strap, etc
(tr) British slang to sell

(intr) (of a sail) to flap noisily in the wind
(intr) to make progress by painful work
NZ to steal
flog a dead horse mainly British
- to harp on some long discarded subject
- to pursue the solution of a problem long realized to be insoluble
flog to death to persuade a person so persistently of the value of (an idea or venture) that he or she loses interest in it

Origin of flog

C17: probably from Latin flagellāre; see flagellant

Derived forms of flog

flogger, noun
flogging, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with flog

flog

see beat a dead horse.

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