flagellation

UK: /ˌflædʒəˈleɪʃ^ən/ US: /ˌflædʒəˈleɪʃən/ ,(flaj′ə lā′shən)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

flag•el•la•tion  (flaj′ə lā′shən), n. 

1. Psychiatry the act or process of flagellating.
2. Psychiatry a masochistic or sadistic act in which the participants receive erotic stimulation from whipping or being whipped.

• Late Latin flagellātiōn-, stem of flagellātiō. See flagellate, -ion
• late Middle English 1400–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

flagellation noun / ˌflædʒɪˈleɪʃən/

1. whipping or flogging, esp as part of a religious penance or for sexual gratification

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

flag•el•late /ˈflædʒəˌleɪt/   v. [~ + object] , -lat•ed, -lat•ing. 

1. to punish with or as if with a whip:
   flagellating his opponent.

flag•el•la•tion /ˌflædʒəˈleɪʃən/  n. [uncountable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

flag•el•late  (v. flaj′ə lāt′;adj., n. flaj′ə lit, -lāt′), v., -lat•ed, -lat•ing, adj., n. 
v.t. 

1. to whip;
   scourge;
   flog;
   lash.

adj. 

2. Cell Biology Also, flag′el•lat′ed. [Biol.] having flagella.
3. Botany producing filiform runners or runnerlike branches, as the strawberry.
4. Microbiology pertaining to or caused by flagellates.

n. 

5. Microbiology any protozoan of the phylum (or class) Mastigophora, having one or more flagella.

• Latin flagellātus, past participle of flagellāre to whip. See flagellum, -ate¹
• 1615–25

flag′el•la′tor, n. 
flag•el•la•to•ry  (flaj′ə lə tôr′ē, -tōr′ē), adj.