PILLORY

n. stocks, device that holds a prisoner by the head and hands (used as a form of public punishment); instrumentality to expose a person to public derision

v. lock up by the head and hands in stocks; condemn publicly, punish publicly

"Whipping Post" redirects here. For The Allman Brothers Band song, see Whipping Post (song). Distinguish from pylorus. The pillory was a device used in punishment by public humiliation and often additional, sometimes lethal, physical abuse.The word is documented in English since 1274 (attested in Anglo-Latin from c.1189), and stems from Old French pellori (1168; modern French pilori, see below), itself from Medieval Latin pilloria, of uncertain origin, perhaps a diminutive of Latin pila "pillar, stone barrier."
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
1. a wooden instrument of punishment on a post with holes for the neck and hands; offenders were locked in and so exposed to public scorn
(synonym) stocks
(hypernym) instrument of punishment
Verb
1. expose to ridicule or public scorn
(synonym) gibbet
(hypernym) expose, exhibit, display
2. punish by putting in a pillory
(hypernym) punish, penalize, penalise
(derivation) stocks
3. criticize harshly or violently; "The press savaged the new President"; "The critics crucified the author for plagiarizing a famous passage"
(synonym) savage, crucify
(hypernym) knock, criticize, criticise, pick apart

(v. t.)
To set in, or punish with, the pillory.
  

(v. t.)
Figuratively, to expose to public scorn.
  

(n.)
A frame of adjustable boards erected on a post, and having holes through which the head and hands of an offender were thrust so as to be exposed in front of it.
  

A medieval punishment and restraining device made of moveable and adjustable boards through which a prisoner's head or limbs were pinned. - (read more on Pillory)