whipping post
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of whipping post
First recorded in 1590–1600
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.
It doesn’t really matter, but the next-to-last image, presumably supposed to represent slavery in the United States, actually depicts a whipping post in Delaware.
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2019
"I don't want to have this conflict. I don't want to be in the spotlight. And I certainly don't want to be a whipping post," Davis said.
From US News ● Sep. 14, 2015
"I don't want to have this conflict. I don't want to be in the spotlight, and I certainly don't want to be a whipping post," said Davis, who like the governor is a Democrat.
From Reuters ● Sep. 14, 2015
“It was becoming too much like a whipping post, my dear!” he said, his face reddening.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 25, 2014
You must have some whipping post, and he's as good as another.
From Phineas Redux by Trollope, Anthony
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.
