Definition of "flagellation" []

• The act or practice of flagellating. (noun)
• Biology The flagellar arrangement on an organism. (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.

• "I believe the humility and self-flagellation is real, but also a very effective political tactic: a pre-emptive confession that defuses any accusations."
• "Self-flagellation is an annual tradition in Pampanga and other parts of the Philippines in which men whip themselves into a frenzy on Good Friday to atone for their sins."
• "Yet upward of a half dozen times a year, this phenomenon of self-flagellation is repeated in the nation's prisons."