sjambok

[ sham-bok, -buhk ]

/ ʃæmˈbɒk, -ˈbʌk /

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noun

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

verb (used with object)

to whip with or as if with such a whip.

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Origin of sjambok

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

Words nearby sjambok

sizzler, sizzling, S.J., SJA, Sjaelland, sjambok, SJC, S.J.D., sjoe, Sjögren's syndrome, S.J. Res.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sjambok in a sentence

He would not; so Gideon left him tied up all night, promising him some more sjambok in the morning.
Aletta|Bertram Mitford
They'll be here to-night, old De Wet says, and they're to come here and sjambok the Englishmen who've been talking too much.
From Capetown to Ladysmith|G. W. Steevens
Then came the sharp crack as of a sjambok wielded by a strong and well-accustomed arm.
Charge!|George Manville Fenn
One tattered little boy of ten cracked his sjambok whip behind the bullocks.
The War in South Africa|Arthur Conan Doyle

He got careless with his sjambok and flicked a tall Swazi warrior on a naked but important part of his anatomy.
Adventures in Swaziland|Owen Rowe O'Neil

British Dictionary definitions for sjambok

sjambok

/ (ˈʃæmbʌk, in South Africa -bɒk) /

noun

a heavy whip of rhinoceros or hippopotamus hide

a stiff synthetic version of this, used in crowd control

verb -boks, -bokking or -bokked

(tr) to strike or beat with such a whip

Word Origin for sjambok

C19: from Afrikaans, from Malay samboq, chamboq, from Urdu chābuk

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