scourge UK /skɜːd͡ʒ/US /skɜɹd͡ʒ/verb 5noun 3forms 6 verb5 •To strike (a person, an animal, etc.) with a scourge (noun etymology 1 sense 1) or whip; to flog, to whip.[…] I caused him to be brought to the Geers, vvith a Halter about his Neck, and be soundly vvhipp'd; and indeed our People did scourge him severely from Head to Foot; […] — 1725 •(figurative) 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 •(figurative) To punish (a person, an animal, etc.); to chastise.He cals vs rebels, traitors, and vvill scourge / VVith haughtie armes this hatefull name in vs. — 1597 •To drive, or force (a person, an animal, etc.) to move, with or as if with a scourge or whip.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 •(Scotland, figurative) Of a crop or a farmer: to deplete the fertility of (land or soil). noun3 •(historical) A whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash.He flogged him with a scourge. •(figurative) 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 •(figurative) 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. formsscourged · scourgedst · scourging · scourges · scourgeth · scourgest
