as in to whip
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible
the pirate captain threatened to horsewhip any of his crew who questioned his orders
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of horsewhip
The Speccie’s star columnist is the rudest man in Christendom, the Godzilla of contumely, an all-time non-sufferer of fools who horsewhips his targets the way Hunter S. Thompson and Christopher Hitchens once did.
—
Kyle Smith, National Review, 23 Apr. 2020
In reality, Watson wasn’t a bar fighter or famous for horsewhipping cowboys.
—Eliza McGraw, Smithsonian, 12 Mar. 2018
Kyle Smith, National Review, 23 Apr. 2020
In reality, Watson wasn’t a bar fighter or famous for horsewhipping cowboys.
—Eliza McGraw, Smithsonian, 12 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for horsewhip
Verb
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The San Diego native whipped a low cross into the box, which both Adriana Leon and Ascanio narrowly missed.—
Fernando Ramirez,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 June 2025
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Chelsea took the lead on 13 minutes when Neto raced away from deep inside the Flamengo half and opened his body before whipping the ball past Agustin Rossi.—
Liam Twomey,
New York Times,
20 June 2025
Verb
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Transparency is another issue: Pricing for procedures varies wildly and is often hidden until the bill arrives.—
Paulina Wierzbicka,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
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The first iteration of Somni opened in 2018 inside the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, a restaurant hidden inside of José Andrés’s Bazaar, but closed in 2020 as a pandemic casualty.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
26 June 2025
Verb
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Norms are being shattered, aid budgets for the poorest and most vulnerable are being slashed, and for the first time in a generation, extreme poverty has been on the rise.—
Michael Sheldrick,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
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Trump also suggested that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — the cost-cutting division unpopular among Americans that Musk led before exiting the administration in late May — might consider slashing incentives that Musk’s companies receive from the U.S. government.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
1 July 2025
Verb
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Underneath her coat, Witherspoon wore an ankle-length black skirt and leather round-toe boots.—
Hannah Jackson,
Vogue,
28 Jan. 2025
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Compare with the Met’s full-size cast, from 1985, and these miniatures cleave the collective anguish into distinct emotions — one figure seems mid-dance, one bored, another ecstatic — in a range of patinas, from dark chocolate to leather.—
Walker Mimms,
New York Times,
23 Jan. 2025
Verb
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In one particularly jarring example, under threat of being unplugged, Anthropic’s latest creation Claude 4 lashed back by blackmailing an engineer and threatened to reveal an extramarital affair.—
Thomas Urbain,
Fortune,
29 June 2025
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The president also lashed out at economists who predicted his administration’s tariffs could cause a recession.—
Francesca Chambers,
USA Today,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Horsewhip.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/horsewhip. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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