flog
Americanverb
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(tr) to beat harshly, esp with a whip, strap, etc
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slang (tr) to sell
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(intr) (of a sail) to flap noisily in the wind
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(intr) to make progress by painful work
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to steal
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to harp on some long discarded subject
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to pursue the solution of a problem long realized to be insoluble
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to persuade a person so persistently of the value of (an idea or venture) that he or she loses interest in it
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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floggernoun
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floggingnoun
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floggableadjective
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unfloggableadjective
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overflogverb (used with object)
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has floggedperfect 3rd person singular
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have floggedperfect
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are floggingprogressive
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am floggingprogressive 1st person singular
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is floggingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been floggingperfect progressive
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has been floggingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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floggingparticiple
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flogssingular 3rd person
Past
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had floggedperfect
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were floggingprogressive plural
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was floggingprogressive singular
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had been floggingperfect progressive
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floggedsimple
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floggedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of flog
First recorded in 1670–80; perhaps blend of flay and jog, variant of jag 1 “to prick, slash”; but cf. flagellate
Explanation
To flog is to beat or hit, especially with a tool like a stick or rod. A cruel trainer might flog an unruly horse with a whip. When you flog someone, you beat them as a way of punishing or controlling them. In the old days, teachers were allowed to flog misbehaving students, and it wasn't uncommon for parents to flog their children as punishment. In fact, the word flog first appeared as school slang in the late 1600s — it's thought to be a shortened form of the Latin word flagellare, "flagellate," or "whip."
Vocabulary lists containing flog
"Shooting an Elephant"
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The Magician's Nephew
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Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You’re not out to fleece anyone with egregiously high commissions or merely befriend another member because you want to flog the latest financial product.
From MarketWatch • May 29, 2026
“If you’re right here at the top of the curve, functioning at a high level, if I flog your nicotinic receptors, you’re actually going to have a decline in performance,” he adds.
From Slate • Jun. 11, 2025
"They pulled it off, because they managed to flog the goods and palm off a $4m ring in Antwerp, which isn't that easy," he added.
From BBC • May 12, 2025
They are a Thing Unto Themselves, these ads, an art almost irrelevant to the products they flog — sometimes barely mentioned, often easy to forget.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2023
“Half the time you don’t even bother locking it. You’re probably hoping someone’ll flog it so you can collect the insurance.”
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
