lash

Pronunciation: /læʃ/

The English word “lash” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given.
A leash in which an animal is caught or held; hence, a snare.
A stroke with a whip, or anything pliant and tough, often given as a punishment.
A quick and violent sweeping movement, as of an animal's tail; a swish.
A stroke of satire or sarcasm; an expression or retort that cuts or gives pain; a cut.
A hair growing from the edge of the eyelid; an eyelash.
In carpet weaving, a group of strings for lifting simultaneously certain yarns, to form the figure.
Flowering plants of genus Blepharis.
An attempt; a go at something.
A quantity, a great number or amount (e.g. of rain or milk).

verb

To strike with a lash; to whip or scourge with a lash, or with something like one.
To strike forcibly and quickly, as with a lash; to beat, or beat upon, with a motion like that of a lash.
To throw out with a jerk or quickly.
To scold; or to satirize; to censure with severity.
To ply the whip; to strike.
To strike vigorously; to let fly.
To utter censure or sarcastic language.
To fall heavily, especially in the phrase lash down.
Used in phrasal verbs: lash back, lash out.
To bind with a rope, cord, thong, or chain, so as to fasten.

Etymology

From Middle English lashe, lasshe, lasche (“a stroke; the flexible end of a whip”), from Proto-Germanic *laskô (“flap of fabric, strap”). Cognate with Dutch lasch, las (“a piece; seal; joint; notch; seam”), German Low German Laske, Lask (“a flap; dag; strap”), German Lasche (“a flap; joint; strap; tongue; scarf”), Swedish lask (“scarf”), Icelandic laski (“the bottom part of a glove”).

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “lash” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.