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

In the photograph “Frame XV,” we see Modisakeng pictured holding a long sjambok whip, a visceral symbol of state-sanctioned violence that he remembers the police using to maintain order during the final years of apartheid.

From The New Yorker

The road was rough, and I would look back now and then to see Sibijaan swaying to and fro as he jerked up the mules and cut them with his sjambok.

From Project Gutenberg