# flog

> English word · Verb · IPA /flɒɡ/ · frequency rank #41,629

## Definitions
1. To whip or scourge as punishment.
2. To use something to extreme; to abuse.
3. To sell.
4. To steal something.
5. To defeat easily or convincingly.
6. To overexploit (land), as by overgrazing, overstocking, etc.
7. To beat away charcoal dust etc. using a flogger.

## Etymology
From Middle English *floggen (suggested by flogge (“hammer, sledge”), from Old English *floggian, a stem variant of Proto-Germanic *flukkōną (“to beat”), itself a secondary zero-grade iterative with unetymological -u-, derived from *flōkaną.
The original zero-grade iterative *flakkōną had been misinterpreted as an o-grade. See flack (“to beat”), also as a dialectal noun "a blow, slap". Cognate with Scots flog (“a blow, stripe, flogging”, noun), Scots flog (“thin strip of wood”), Norwegian flak (“a piece torn off, strip”).
Alternatively, a back-formation from flogger, from Low German flogger (“a flail”).

## Easily confused with
- **fo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-fo)
- **for** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-for)
- **fly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-fly)
- **fox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-fox)
- **flu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-flu)
- **fog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-fog)
- **foe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-foe)
- **foo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-foo)
- **fro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-fro)
- **fob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-fob)
- **foy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-foy)
- **foi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-foi)
- **fou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-fou)
- **foh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-foh)
- **from** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-from)
- **food** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-food)
- **foot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-foot)
- **flow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-flow)
- **fool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-fool)
- **frog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flog-vs-frog)

## Common misspellings (6)
`fflog`, `flgo`, `fllog`, `flogg`, `folg`, `lfog`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/flog