sjambok

American  

[sham-bok, -buhk] / ʃæmˈbɒk, -ˈbʌk /

noun

1. (in southern Africa) a heavy whip, usually of rhinoceros hide.

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verb (used with object)

1. to whip with or as if with such a whip.

sjambok British  

/ -bɒk, ˈʃæmbʌk /

noun

1. a heavy whip of rhinoceros or hippopotamus hide

2. a stiff synthetic version of this, used in crowd control

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verb

1. (tr) to strike or beat with such a whip

Etymology

Origin of sjambok

1820–30; < Afrikaans s ( j ) ambok < Malay cambuk whip < Hindi cābuk

Example Sentences

A sjambok is a whip usually made of leather.

From Washington Post

“They beat me and my wife with a sjambok in front of our kids, saying we were part of the riots,” he said.

From Washington Post

A second man from another Harare township said he was also beaten by soldiers Thursday night, including with a leather whip locally known as a sjambok.

From The Wall Street Journal

Vaulting over into the driver’s seat, he seized the sjambok and jumped into the river.

From Project Gutenberg

The matter of getting a rhino-hide sjambok ebony black would happily occupy him for many days, or cleaning a pipe that he never smoked—anything that was futile and foolish and useless and that some one else could have done better!

From Project Gutenberg