noun
knout
Knout (noun) means a whip with several leather tails, once infamously used for punishment in Russia under the tsars; a harsher version had metal weights fixed to each tail.
noun
1
A whip with several leather tails, once infamously used for punishment in Russia under the tsars; a harsher version had metal weights fixed to each tail.
"The lieutenant gave him twenty strokes of the knout and stuck him in a cage for a few days till the snow was ankle deep."
— James Meek, The People's Act of Love (2005)
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Etymology
It reached English via French knout, from Russian кнут (knut), from Old East Slavic кнутъ (knutŭ), from Old Norse knútr ("knot in a cord"). It is a doublet of knot, node, and nodus.
Rhymes for knout
See all rhymes for knout →Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of knout?
"knout" (noun) means a whip with several leather tails, once infamously used for punishment in Russia under the tsars; a harsher version had metal weights fixed to each tail.
