cat-o'-nine-tails
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Cat-o%27-nine-tails_%28PSF%29.jpg/220px-Cat-o%27-nine-tails_%28PSF%29.jpg)
Alternative forms
[edit]- cat-o'-nine (uncommon short form)
Etymology
[edit]From cat + of + nine + tails; attested since 1695.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]cat-o'-nine-tails (plural cats-o'-nine-tails)
- (nautical) A scourge (multi-tail whip) having nine, often knotted, whipcords, formerly used for flogging as naval punishment.
- 1695, [William] Congreve, Love for Love: A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, scene vii, page 44:
- But I do tell you one thing, if you ſhould give ſuch Language at Sea, you'd have a Cat o' Nine-tails laid croſs your Shoulders.
- A similarly constructed leather nine-tail whip, as used in British penal colonies and certain armies.
Hypernyms
[edit]Translations
[edit]nine-corded whip
|