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
McQueen’s movie borrowed much from its predecessors: the menacing droop of a willow, a sea of cotton, a whipping post, a tree of scars.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 3, 2016
"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
Colonial Virginia statutes specified that each county should "cause to be built a courthouse of brick, stone or timber; one common gaol, well-secured with iron bars, bolts and locks, one pillory, whipping post and stocks."
From The Fairfax County Courthouse by Netherton, Ross De Witt
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.
