whipping post

whipping post (plural whipping posts)

1. A post or pillory to which a criminal is tied, and flagellated.
   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 54:

     Opposite the almshouses is the bow-fronted post office and shop, while near by, beneath the trees on the green, is the old whipping post and stocks, the latter pierced by five holes.

• “whipping post”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.