FLOG

(PUNISH) [verb] [T] -gg- - to beat very hard with a whip or a stick, as a punishmentSoldiers used to be flogged for disobedience.(informal) I keep trying to get Bob to come dancing with us, but it's just flogging a dead horse (= wasted effort) because he says he hates dancing.(informal) There's no point in flogging yourself to death/into the ground like that (= working so hard and making yourself so tired).(informal) That idea has been absolutely flogged to death (= has been repeated so often that it is no longer interesting).