the.com/lash

means A short curved hair growing from the eyelid, or, as a verb, to tie something down tightly or strike it with force.

from A knot of senses braided into one word. The verb 'to lash' meaning to strike or whip comes from Middle English, likely imitative of the sharp cracking sound a whip makes — related to Old French 'lasche' or similar Romance forms tied to looseness and striking. The 'tie down' sense (as in lashing cargo) comes from the same root, since whips and binding cords were kin. The eyelash sense arrived later, picturing the lash of hair as a tiny fringe that could 'strike' or flick, like a whip in miniature — a small violence borrowed for something that only ever blinks.