This verb denotes violent cutting or hacking, used in classical contexts for butchering meat, cutting down trees, or inflicting wounds. Mark 5:5 describes the Gerasene demoniac's self-mutilation with stones among the tombs. The present participle indicates ongoing, repeated action—he was continually gashing himself. Such behavior signals extreme psychological and spiritual torment. The Spanish 'cortándose' and French 'meurtrir' (bruise/wound) capture the self-inflicted violence. Ancient sources use the word for military massacre and ritual self-laceration, both involving repetitive cutting motions.