Lash. n.s. [The most probable etymology of this word seems to be that of Skinner, from schlagen, Dutch, to strike; whence slash and lash.]

1. A stroke with any thing pliant and tough.

   From hence are heard the groans of ghosts, the pains
   Of sounding lashes, and of dragging chains. Dryden's Æn.

   Rous'd by the lash of his own stubborn tail,
   Our lion now ill foreign foes assail. Dryden.

2. The thong or point of the whip which gives the cut or blow.

   Her whip of cricket's bone, her lash of film,
   Her waggoner a small grey-coated gnat. Shakespeare.

   I observed that your whip wanted a lash to it. Addis. Spect.

3. A leash, or string in which an animal is held; a snare: out of use.

   The farmer they leave in the lash,
   With losses on every side. Tusser's Husbandry.

4. A stroke of satire; a sarcasm.

   The moral is a lash at the vanity of arrogating that to ourselves which succeeds well. L'Estrange.