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flog

[flog, flawg]
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verb (used with object), flogged, flog·ging.
  1. to beat with a whip, stick, etc., especially as punishment; whip; scourge.
  2. Slang.
    1. to sell, especially aggressively or vigorously.
    2. to promote; publicize.
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Origin of flog

1670–80; perhaps blend of flay and jog, variant of jag1 to prick, slash; but cf. flagellate
Related formsflog·ga·ble, adjectiveflog·ger, nouno·ver·flog, verb (used with object), o·ver·flogged, o·ver·flog·ging.un·flog·ga·ble, adjectiveun·flogged, adjective

Synonyms for flog

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1. thrash, lash.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for flogger

frock, raincoat, overcoat, cloak, jacket, suit, wrap, tuxedo, windbreaker, threads, trench, cape, tux, anorak, slicker, mink, ulster, cutaway, mackinaw, topcoat

Examples from the Web for flogger

Historical Examples of flogger

  • How could the flogger of urchins be otherwise than animated and joyous?

    The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

    Washington Irving

  • Why should there be a distinction between the flogger and the flogged?

    Mr. Midshipman Easy

    Captain Frederick Marryat

  • It is also known under the name of flogger, the latter seemingly the more appropriate of the two.

    Graining and Marbling

    Frederick Maire

  • The sentence of the court was carried out by a scourger, sometimes called flagellator, or flogger.

    The Book of the Bush

    George Dunderdale

  • I no more care for a flogging than a boy does at Eton: and only let the flogger beware—I will be a match for him, I warrant you.

British Dictionary definitions for flogger

flog

verb flogs, flogging or flogged
  1. (tr) to beat harshly, esp with a whip, strap, etc
  2. (tr) British slang to sell
  3. (intr) (of a sail) to flap noisily in the wind
  4. (intr) to make progress by painful work
  5. NZ to steal
  6. flog a dead horse mainly British
    1. to harp on some long discarded subject
    2. to pursue the solution of a problem long realized to be insoluble
  7. 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
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Derived Formsflogger, nounflogging, noun

Word Origin for flog

C17: probably from Latin flagellāre; see flagellant
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

Word Origin and History for flogger

flog

v.

1670s, slang, perhaps a schoolboy shortening of Latin flagellare "flagellate." Related: Flogged; flogging.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with flogger

flog

see beat a dead horse.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.