scourge
UK/skɜːd͡ʒ//skɜɹd͡ʒ/
scourge noun: a whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash.
Noun
scourge (plural scourges)
- A whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash.
- He flogged him with a scourge.
- Yf they breake myne ordinaunces, and kepe not my commaundementes. I vil vyſet their offences with the rodde, and their ſynnes with ſcourges.1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Psalm...
- A person or thing regarded as an agent of divine punishment.
- And therfore the faithfull had neede of inuincible conſtancie and incredible pacience, that they may know them to be gods squorges, and the inſtrumentes of his wrath, […]1574, Augustine Marlorate [i.e., Augustin Marlorat], “[Revelation 2:3]”, in Arthur Golding, transl., A Catholike Exposition vpon the Reuelation of Sainct Iohn. […], London: […] H[enry] Binneman, for...
- Againe not long after this euen ſhortly after the death of Alaricus came that Flagellum Dei that ſcourge of God into Italy, Attila King of the Hunnes, and ſpoyled the country vvith maruailous hoſtility in the time of the Emperour Martian.1611, Thomas Coryate [i.e., Thomas Coryat], “My Obseruations of the Most Glorious, Peerelesse, and Mayden Citie of Venice: […]”, in Coryats Crudities Hastily Gobled Vp in Five Moneths Trauells […]...
- A source of persistent (and often widespread) pain and suffering or trouble, such as a cruel ruler, disease, pestilence, or war.
- Graffiti is the scourge of building owners everywhere.
- Thou ominous and fearefull Ovvle of death, / Our Nations terror, and their bloody ſcourge, / The period of thy Tyranny approacheth, / On vs thou canſt not enter but by death: […]1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Verb
scourge (third-person singular simple present scourges, present participle scourging, simple past and past participle scourged)
- To strike (a person, an animal, etc.) with a scourge (noun etymology 1 sense 1) or whip; to flog, to whip.
- Hvng be yͤ heauens vvith black, yield day to night; / Comets importing change of Times and States, / Brandiſh your cryſtall Treſſes in the Skie, / And vvith them ſcourge the bad reuolting Stars, / That haue conſented vnto Henries Death: / King Henry the Fift, too famous to liue long, / England...1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Doe vve not vpon every good-friday, in ſundrie places, ſee a great number of men and vvomen, ſcourge and beate themſelves ſo long till they bruſe and teare their fleſh, even to the bones? I have often ſeene it my ſelfe, and that vvithout enchantment.1603, Michel de Montaigne, “That the Taste of Goods or Evilles doth Greatly Depend on the Opinion We Have of Them”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes...
- To drive, or force (a person, an animal, etc.) to move, with or as if with a scourge or whip.
- So judge thou ſtill, preſumptuous, till the wrauth, / Which thou incurr'ſt by flying, meet thy flight / Seavenfold, and ſcourge that wiſdom back to Hell, / Which taught thee yet no better, that no pain / Can equal anger infinite provok't.1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- Thou knowest not, and mayst thou never know, / How bitter is the tear that firy shame / Scourges and tortures from the soldier's eye.1812, [Walter Savage Landor], Count Julian: A Tragedy, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […], [b]y James Moyes, […], →OCLC, Act V, scene ii, page 96
- To punish (a person, an animal, etc.); to chastise.
- For a Patient and Thankful Heart in Sickness. Whom thou lovest, O Lord, him dost thou chasten, yea, every son that thou receivest, thou scourgest, and in so doing thou offerest thyself unto him, as a father unto his son. For what son is whom the father chasteneth not?1553, “The Primer: Or Book of Private Prayer, Needful to be Used of All Christians. […] [Sundry Godly Prayers for Divers Purposes.]”, in Joseph Ketley, editor, The Two Liturgies, A.D. 1549, and A.D....
- He cals vs rebels, traitors, and vvill ſcourge / VVith haughtie armes this hatefull name in vs.c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]...
- To cause (someone or something) persistent (and often widespread) pain and suffering or trouble; to afflict, to torment.
- And that the Remonſtrant cannot vvaſh his hands of all the cruelties exercis'd by the Prelats, is paſt doubting. They ſcourg'd the Confeſſors of the Goſpel, and he held the Scourgers garments.1642 April, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually...
- Thou hast, thyself, broken all laws, dissolved every tie; thou bruisest, scourgest, robbest this thy noble kingdom of England, and shall we not have at least the poor liberty to rail.1844 April 13, “The Last Days of the Plantagenets. Henry III.—Part II.”, in A[lexander] D. Paterson, editor, The Anglo American, volume 2, number 25, New York, N.Y.: E. L. Garvin & Co., →OCLC, pages...
- Of a crop or a farmer: to deplete the fertility of (land or soil).
scourge meaning in Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
scourge in Urdu
- بلا, چابک, غضب خداوندی
scourge in Bengali
- চাবুক, দুর্বিপাক
scourge in Malayalam
- lash, whip, horsewhip
- ചാട്ട, ചമ്മട്ടി, കശ, കശം, കസ, ചമ്മട്ട
- curse, affliction, bane
- ശിക്ഷ, മഹാവിപത്ത്, ഉപദ്രവം, ബാധ, പീഡ, ശാപം
- whip, flog, beat
- ചമ്മട്ടികൊണ്ടടിക്കുക, ചമ്മട്ടിപ്രഹരം നടത്തുക, മുക്കാലിയിൽ കെട്ടി അടിക്കുക, ദണ്ഡിക്കുക, കുതിരച്ചാട്ട കൊണ്ടടിക്കുക, ചാട്ടപ്രയോഗം നടത്തുക
- torment, afflict, plague
- ബാധിക്കുക, പീഡിപ്പിക്കുക, അഴറ്റുക, ക്ലേശിപ്പിക്കുക, മഹാമാരി ബാധിക്കുക, ദണ്ഡിക്കുക
scourge in Kannada
- ಉಪದ್ರವ, ಪೀಡೆ, ವೇದನೆಯ ಮೂಲ, ಸಂಕಟ, ನೋವಿನ ಕಾರಣ, ತೊಂದರೆ
More languagesFewer languages
- scourge in Arabic
- سوط, وباء, بَلْوَى balwā
- scourge in Vietnamese
- tai ương
Examples of scourge in a sentence
- My father layd vpon you a heauie yoke, vvhich I vvil make heauier: my father bette you vvith ſcourges, but I vvil beate you vvith ſcorpions.1609, The Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Laurence Kellam, […], →OCLC, 2 Paralipomenon 10:11, page 886:
- Up to coach then goes / Th' observed Maid, takes both the scourge and reins, / And to her side her handmaid straight attains.1614–1615, Homer, “The Sixth Book of Homer’s Odysseys”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field...
- [H]eaven-born truth, / And moderation fair, vvere the red marks / Of ſuperſtition's ſcourge: […]a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Winter”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published...
- Mortify / Your flesh, like me, with scourges and with thorns; / Smite, shrink not, spare not.1833 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “St. Simeon Stylites”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC...
Synonyms of scourge
Forms of scourge
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | scourges |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | scourges |
| present participle | scourging |
| past participle | scourged |
| past | scourged |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | scourgest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | scourgedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | scourgeth |
Origin of scourge
From Middle English scourge (“a lash, whip, scourge; affliction, calamity; person who causes affliction or calamity; shoot of a vine”), and then either: * from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge, escurge, or Old French scurge, escourge, escorge, escorgiee, escurge (modern French escourgée (“(archaic) whip made of leather strips”)), either: ** from Vulgar Latin *excoriāta (“strip of hide; a scourge”), from Late Latin excoriāre, the present active infinitive of excoriō (“to strip the skin from, to skin”), from Latin ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + corium (“skin; hide, leather”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”)); or ** from Latin ex- (intensifying prefix) + corrigia (“a whip”) (from corrigō (“to make right, correct; to reform”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to righten; to straighten”)); or * from Middle English scourgen (verb) (see etymology 2). Cognates Italian scuriada, scuriata
From Middle English scourgen (“to whip, scourge; to afflict; to punish”), and then either: * from scourge (noun) + -en (suffix forming infinitives of verbs); or * from Anglo-Norman escorger, and Old French escorgier (“to whip, to scourge”), which are either: ** from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge (noun), etc., or Old French scurge, escourge (noun), etc. + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs); or ** from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiō, from Latin ex- (intensifying prefix) + corrigia (“a whip”); or ** directly from Late Latin excoriāre. See further at etymology 1.
Words formed from scourge
Words that rhyme with scourge
Questions about scourge
- What does scourge mean?
- Scourge means a whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash.
- What is scourge in Urdu?
- Scourge in Urdu is بلا, چابک, غضب خداوندی. See Scourge meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use scourge in a sentence?
- My father layd vpon you a heauie yoke, vvhich I vvil make heauier: my father bette you vvith ſcourges, but I vvil beate you vvith ſcorpions.
- What part of speech is scourge?
- Scourge can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce scourge?
- Scourge is pronounced /skɜːd͡ʒ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of scourge?
- The plural of scourge is scourges.
Words near scourge in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: scourge (page history and authors); scourge (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scourge (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scourge (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); scourge (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-scourge.ogg.
Cite this entry: “scourge.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/scourge. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.