noun
- plural of knout; whips with leather thongs formerly used for punishment in Russia
Usage: historical
Examples
- The museum displayed several knouts used during the Tsarist era.
- Historical accounts describe the brutal use of knouts as punishment.
- The guards carried knouts as symbols of their authority.
- Knouts were eventually banned as instruments of corporal punishment.
- The leather knouts left permanent scars on prisoners.
- Russian literature often mentions the fear of knouts among serfs.