lash.
The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given.
Meaning & usage
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.
The culprit received thirty-nine lashes.
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.
I'll have a lash.
A quantity, a great number or amount (e.g. of rain or milk).
Where this word comes from
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”).
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.
Heavy seas lashed the shore.
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.
Where this word comes from
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”).
To bind with a rope, cord, thong, or chain, so as to fasten.
Where this word comes from
From Middle French lachier, from Old French lacier (“to lace”).
Remiss, lax.
Relaxed.
Soft, watery, wet.
Excellent, wonderful.
We’re off school tomorrow, it’s gonna be lash!
That Chinese (food) was lash!
Drunk.
Where this word comes from
From Old French lasche (French lâche).
Looseness between fitted parts, either intentional (as allowance) or unintentional (from error or wear).
setting the proper valve lash for solid lifters
excessive lash in the gear train
Where this word comes from
From Old French lasche (French lâche).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.