1. Something causing misery or death
   "the scourge of my life";
   - bane, curse, nemesis
    
2. A person who inspires fear or dread
   "he was the scourge of the neighbourhood";
   - terror, threat
    
3. A whip used to inflict punishment
   "The prisoner winced at the sight of the scourge";
   - flagellum

1. Punish severely; excoriate
   "The critic scourged the author's latest novel in his review"
    
2. Whip
   "The religious fanatics scourged themselves";
   - flagellate

Derived forms: scourges, scourging, scourged

Type of: actor, affliction, doer, flog, lash, lather, penalise [Brit], penalize, punish, sanction, slash, strap, trounce, welt, whale [N. Amer, informal], whip, worker

Encyclopedia: Scourge