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lash

noun · verb · adjective

Simple meaning

A quick and violent sweeping movement, as of an animal's tail.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

lash
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlæʃ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given.

  2. A quick and violent sweeping movement, as of an animal's tail; a swish.

  3. A stroke with a whip, or anything pliant and tough, often given as a punishment.

  4. A stroke of satire or sarcasm; an expression or retort that cuts or gives pain; a cut.

  5. A hair growing from the edge of the eyelid; an eyelash.

  6. A quantity, a great number or amount (e.g. of rain or milk).

verb

  1. transitive

    To strike with a lash; to whip or scourge with a lash, or with something like one.

  2. transitive

    To strike forcibly and quickly, as with a lash; to beat, or beat upon, with a motion like that of a lash.

  3. transitive

    To throw out with a jerk or quickly.

  4. transitive

    To scold; or to satirize; to censure with severity.

  5. Beat severely with a whip or rod

  6. intransitive

    To ply the whip; to strike.

adjective

  1. Soft, watery, wet.

  2. britishslang

    Drunk.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A quick and violent sweeping movement, as of an animal's tail; a swish.

Used this way, lash is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.

Emotional tone
Negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Serious and weighty
Usage feel
Blunt and forceful

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

lash linenicholas lashlong lashvalve lashwhip lash

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • lashingnounInflected form

    Beating with a whip or strap or rope as a form of punishment.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • lash-upnounCompound term

    Any improvised arrangement for temporary use.

  • lash-likeadjectiveCompound term

    Having or resembling a lash or whip (as does a flagellum).

  • lash outverbCompound term

    Attack in speech or writing.

  • lash togetherverbCompound term

    Bind together with a cord or rope.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: thong or braided cord of a whip

whip

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.