1. knout - Noun
2. knout - Verb
A kind of whip for flogging criminals, formerly much used in Russia. The last is a tapering bundle of leather thongs twisted with wire and hardened, so that it mangles the flesh.
To punish with the knout.
Source: Webster's dictionaryPunishment with a knout Other than these, the rights of a serf were very limited. Source: Internet
Emperor Nicholas I abolished the punishment by knout in 1845, and replaced it with the pleti, lashes with three thongs which could end in lead balls. Source: Internet
Still others maintain it is of generic Germanic origin, not necessarily Scandinavian, comparing it with the German Knute, Dutch knoet (both meaning knout) and with Old Norse knutr, Anglo-Saxon cnotta and English knot. Source: Internet
The Russian knout had different forms. Source: Internet