flog

verb

\ˈfläg

flogged; flogging

Definition of flog

transitive verb

1a : to beat with or as if with a rod or whip The sailors were flogged for attempting a mutiny.

b : to criticize harshly He was flogged in the press for failing to take action.

2 : to force or urge into action : drive

3a chiefly British : to sell (something, such as stolen goods) illegally flogged their employers' petrol to ordinary motorists — Economist

b : sell sense 7 traveled by horse, flogging encyclopedias— Robert Darnton flogging wares at the local discount outlet— Ronald Henkoff

c : to promote aggressively : plug flying around the world flogging your movies— Peter Bogdanovich

4 British : steal sense 1

intransitive verb

1 : flap, flutter sails flogging

2 British : to move along with difficulty : slog

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Examples of flog in a Sentence

The sailors were flogged for attempting a mutiny. a graphic depiction of a sailor being flogged by the captain for disobeying orders

Recent Examples on the Web

Younis had been detained and flogged by IS militants for selling cigarettes on the black market to make ends meet, according to his mother, Nada Hassan. — Hamza Hendawi, Washington Post, "A neighbor’s word can bring death sentence in Iraq IS trials," 9 July 2018 Younis had been detained and flogged by IS militants for selling cigarettes on the black market to make ends meet, according to his mother, Nada Hassan. — Hamza Hendawi, Fox News, "A neighbor's word can bring death sentence in Iraq IS trials," 9 July 2018 And Spain has flogged its tiki-taka game of possession and passing to death and needs to find a new path to victory and without midfielder Andres Iniesta, who retired after Spain's loss to Russia in the first knockout round. — John Leicester, chicagotribune.com, "With World Cup title, France could launch a dynasty," 10 July 2018 The car is comfortable enough, however, and reasonably quiet except when the little engine is flogged. — Al Haas, Philly.com, "Nissan's Kicks is a cute, useful hatchback, not a crossover," 5 July 2018 The pupils were being flogged by a teacher in front of their school Wednesday morning in the remote town of Ayetoro, Ogun State, northwest of Lagos. — Bukola Adebayo, CNN, "Nigerian students tied to crucifixes and beaten for coming late to school," 18 May 2018 People will find out your job, your company and everything else about you in order to publicly flog you for making statements like this. — Monique Judge, The Root, "When Will White People Learn That Racist Social Media Posts Will Haunt Them Forever?," 27 June 2018 Still, recruiters have flogged those benefits for years, with little to show for it. — David Scharfenberg, BostonGlobe.com, "The US military: The greatest social engineering machine ever built," 9 June 2018 The group continues to regularly flog the Cincinnati streetcar and City Hall's progressive Democrats on social media. — Jason Williams, Cincinnati.com, "PX column: Does COAST still have influence in Hamilton County? We're about to find out," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'flog.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.