Definition of "flagellate" [flag•el•late•fla•gel]

• To whip or flog; scourge. (verb-transitive)
• To punish or impel as if by whipping. (verb-transitive)
• Biology Flagellated. (adjective)
• Resembling or having the form of a flagellum; whiplike. (adjective)
• Relating to or caused by a flagellate organism. (adjective)

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.

• "Conservatives gleefully seized upon this to once again flagellate academia for its liberal bias."
• "As in many other lower animals, the cells have only one whip-like hair each, and so are called flagellate (whip) cells (in contrast with the ciliated cells, which have a number of short lashes or cilia)."
• "Today, he sees the "moral hazard rescue" for what it is, and now chooses to "flagellate" himself and "wear a dunce's hat.""