flagellates

verb

present tense third-person singular of flagellate
as in whips
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible some medieval monks believed it was necessary to flagellate themselves in order to keep their desires in check

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for flagellates
  1. whips
  2. hides
  3. slashes
  4. flicks
  5. whales
  6. switches
  7. flails
  8. lashes
Verb
  • Castro whips her head around and follows him, punching him in the back.
    — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Green whips out his phone with the fluid motion of a digital native and snaps a photo.
    — Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of whips
Verb
  • Rank buildings by attrition instead of averaging across the district because the average is exactly what hides a building in crisis.
    — Kellie Lauth, Forbes.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Along the way, Bryan gets bit by a zombie but hides the wound, which slowly infects him.
    — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of hides
Verb
  • The company wants Starship to be a fully and rapidly reusable transport system that slashes the cost of spaceflight.
    — Sven Bilén, The Conversation, 29 Sep. 2026
  • This setup slashes solvent consumption by 40 percent and cuts the equipment footprint by more than half.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of slashes
Verb
  • Fernandes then flicks the ball to his team-mate and Mainoo rattles the woodwork, with Anderson unable to block the shot.
    — Ahmed Walid, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • As if to signal this iteration hasn’t completely deviated from its roots, in the show’s opening moments, Deborah Wayne coolly flicks the iconic flip-up frames made famous by Hardison’s Dwayne.
    — Senior Television, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of flicks
Verb
  • Killer whales off New England The aquarium says killer whale sightings are uncommon in New England waters.
    — Neal Riley, CBS News, 16 Apr. 2026
Definition of whales
Verb
  • Starting Tuesday, all this becomes Wall Street official when PSKY switches to SKYD on the ticker.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The broadcast then switches to what appears to be an MTV News update from Kurt Loder about search-and-rescue teams in Canada.
    — Deirdre Durkan, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of switches
Verb
  • Their good fortune is picking up speed, as the increasingly sclerotic and daft president furiously flails.
    — Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • As the economy flails and the war in Iraq wages on, 58% of people disapprove of the president, according to a New York Times aggregation of polls.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of flails
Verb
  • Alpha 1, who’s most strict about the disease’s suppression, lashes out uncontrollably.
    — Cortlyn Kelly, IndieWire, 8 Sep. 2026
  • The best mascaras for older women help coat lashes with color while addressing the annoying issues that come with age.
    — Micaela English, Glamour, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of lashes
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

flagellated
flagellates
flagellating
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Cite this Entry

“Flagellates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flagellates. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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