1
as in ravaged
to bring destruction to (something) through violent action
barbarians scourged the countryside, leaving village after village burned to the ground
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2
as in whipped
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible
scourge the tree with a whip to loosen the bark
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Recent Examples of scourged
These scourged the poor harder than anyone else.
—
Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 31 Aug. 2025
Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 31 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scourged
Verb
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The Kings were ravaged by injuries to a number of key players, forcing coach Doug Christie to deploy 35 different starting lineups.—
Jason Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
14 May 2026
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Pursued by legendary lawman Pat Garrett and his ambitious young deputy, Ross takes refuge at a remote homestead ravaged by diphtheria.—
Brian Welk,
IndieWire,
13 May 2026
Verb
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Maria Wittorp, the hotel’s head concierge, said, with the haste of an auctioneer, standing in the lobby, as blazer-wearing staffers whipped by.—
Jane Bua,
New Yorker,
14 May 2026
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Real estate agents whipped out their phones to put a hard sell on anything east of I-95.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
8 May 2026
Verb
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It was moved a day later to a naval base on the mainland for inspection and the explosives were later destroyed, according to Greece’s public broadcaster, ERT.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 May 2026
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The surge triggered severe erosion, damaged the powerhouse and nearby switchyards, washed debris into the North Yuba River and destroyed portions of Lake Francis Road.—
Nicole Buss,
Sacbee.com,
12 May 2026
Verb
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In previous years, the 31-year-old originally from Chicago might have lashed back when accosted on the ice.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
9 May 2026
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Lively has maintained this approach was in line with the press tactic laid out for her by Sony, but the internet quickly lashed out at her given the film’s serious subject matter.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
9 May 2026
Verb
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Fuel and fertilizer needed for the rice crop are just the latest necessities to become unaffordable in Rakhine state, which has been devastated by intense fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), one of the many rebel groups in the country.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
16 May 2026
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Authorities discovered the bodies of a man who worked for Henry County, a woman and an infant in a McDonough home on Tuesday night, leaving the woman’s family devastated and the man’s coworkers within the county’s Department of Transportation stunned.—
Reed Williams,
AJC.com,
16 May 2026
Verb
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Those numbers were slashed on May 1 due to work restrictions, leaving more than 100,000 people without reliable food access.—
Allison Kiehl,
Chicago Tribune,
16 May 2026
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Maryland officials slashed $126 million this spring from programs serving people with developmental disabilities, with much of the impact falling on families like Gonce’s.—
Mike Hixenbaugh,
NBC news,
15 May 2026
Verb
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The same day that the nanny allegedly beat Walter, other caregivers slapped and flogged his siblings, including with shoes and wooden sticks.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
11 May 2026
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The media flagged and flogged it for AI incompetence.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
25 Jan. 2026
Verb
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First baseman Ashley Griffin slapped an RBI single into center field, scoring catcher Beth Damon, extending the lead to 5-1 and ending Braswell’s day.—
Matt Murschel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
16 May 2026
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Firstman all but preemptively slapped an A24 logo on Club Kid, which doesn’t have distribution yet as of this writing, but his film really would fit into their stable of commercially friendly art flicks, down to its gooey heart.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scourged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scourged. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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