Definition of "flagellant" [flag•el•lant]

• One who whips, especially one who scourges oneself for religious discipline or public penance. (noun)
• One who seeks sexual gratification in beating or being beaten by another person. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The ordinary registers are the low, the middle, the high voice, or head voice, and sometimes the second high voice, which has been called the flagellant voice."
• "I don't mean to come off like a "flagellant" here, beating my breast for the shortcomings of my countrymen; you could just as easily say that "they" don't spend time with"
• "Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images EASTER SACRIFICE: A flagellant whipped his back with bamboo during the re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Manila Thursday."