lash out
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.38 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Four Japanese torpedo boats launch an attack on the Suvorov. Despite burning steadily for several hours and now taking a torpedo to the stern, the ship still lashes out at its attackers with a few remaining guns. With no pressing need to continue the attack to closer range, the torpedo boats fall back, noting the position for a night attack if Suvorov survives that long."
- "The man lashed out at me when I asked if it was his own hair."
- "He [Sebastian Kurz] has lashed out at the justice system, accusing prosecutors of being politically motivated."
- "Donald Trump has lashed out against his own supporters, calling them gullible “weaklings” for questioning the transparency of a secretive government inquiry into the late high-profile socialite and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein."
- "Vice President J. D. Vance has lashed out at [Gavin] Newsom, telling Fox that the Californian’s attacks aren’t landing, because his trolling “ignores the fundamental genius of President Trump’s political success, which is that he’s authentic” […]"
- "In August 2025, during a media conference at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on the outcomes of the ANC’s recent National Executive Committee meeting, Fikile Mbalula, Secretary General of the ANC, lashed out at white South Africans and Afrikaner refugees to the US."
Etymology
For the verb's chief current sense (to attack suddenly), by surface analysis suggests reaching out with the lash (either literally or figuratively); however, the verb is entered in various early-19th-century dictionaries with various senses, only some of which have to do with attacking, kicking, or similar. One of them corresponds to today's splash out (that is, to break out into spending), while another corresponds to breaking out into expressing oneself verbally.