Lash | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Lāsh, n.

noun

n. [Ger. lasche, latchet, a bit of leather, gusset, stripe, laschen, to furnish with flaps, to lash or slap; Icel. laski, gusset, flap; laska, to tear. Cf. LEASH.]

Sense 1. The thong or braided cord of a whip; a cord; a string.

I observed that your whip wanted a lash to it. Addison.

Sense 2. The leash in which an animal is caught or held; hence, a snare. [Obs.]

The farmer they leave in the lash. Tusser.

Sense 3. A stroke with a whip, or any thing pliant and tough; as, the culprit received thirty-nine lashes.

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

The moral is a lash at the vanity of arrogating that to ourselves which succeeds well. L’Estrange.

Lăsh, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. LASHED (lāsh't); p. pr. & vb. n. LASHING.] 1. To strike with a lash or any thing pliant; to whip or scourge. We lash the pupil, and defraud the ward. Dryden.

To satirize; to censure with severity; as, to lash vice.
To throw up with a sudden jerk; to kick out.

He falls, and, lashing up his heels, his rider throws. Dryden. 4. To beat, as with something loose; to dash against. And big waves lash the frighted shores. Prior. 5. To tie or bind with a rope or cord; to secure or fasten by a string; as to lash any thing to a mast or to a yard; to lash a trunk on a coach.

Lāsh, v. i.

verbintransitive

To ply the whip; to make a severe attack.

To laugh at follies or to lash at vice. Dryden.

To lash out, to be extravagant or unruly; also, to kick out; as, a horse lashes out.