Brewer's: Thin as a Whipping-post

As a lath; as a wafer. (See Similes.)

“I assure you that, for many weeks afterwards, I was as thin as a whipping-post.” —Kingston The Three Admirals, chap. vi.

“ `I wish we had something to eat,' said Tom. `I shall grow as thin as a whipping-post ... I suspect.' ” —Kingston: The Three Admirals, chap. xi.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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