knout
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of knout
1710–20; < French < Russian knut, Old Russian < Old Norse knūtr knot
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.
Moscow's long-suffering moviegoers glowed vindictively: the managers of the city's neighborhood moviehouses were at last writhing under the official knout.
From Time Magazine Archive
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The new, obnoxiously corporate-modeled, self-franchising Guggenheim may run on laptops, but what it really needs is an editorial pencil -- if not a knout.
From Time Magazine Archive
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The feat for which the National Committee commended him proved him to be a very knout and bastinado.
From Time Magazine Archive
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A ridiculous effigy of the Tsar with a knout in his hand now occupied the symbolic position and dominated the scene.
From The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism by Bertrand Russell
George Darling started, and the knout fell from his hand.
From Little Oskaloo or, The White Whirlwind by Thomas Chalmers Harbaugh
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.