punishment. The infliction of stripes. 2. This mode of punishment, which is still practiced in some of the states, is a relict of barbarism; it has yielded in most of the middle and northern states to the penitentiary system. 3. The punishment of whipping, so far as the same was provided by the laws of the United States, was abolished by the act of congress of February 28, 1839
WHIPPING
TheLaw.com Law Dictionary & Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed.