scourge
noun
a whip or lash, especially for the infliction of punishment or torture.
scourging
-
present participleof scourge.present participle
A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
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.
In 1869, the British critic Matthew Arnold observed that Protestant Americans had internalized Hebraism’s scourging demands for “conduct and obedience” and “strictness of conscience”:
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2024
When Fo won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1997, the Nobel Committee praised him for “emulating the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2022
Tygart, who has never been especially lenient, has begun to protest vehemently against WADA’s public scourging of athletes as drug cheats over a single low-level test.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 16, 2021
Of the scourging pressure of his need to understand.
From New York Times ● Dec. 12, 2019
The constant scrubbing by the wives who had lived there and the biannual deep-seated scourging had kept the dirt down.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
