smart as a whip
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(as) smart as a whip (not comparable)
- (simile) Very intelligent.
- Synonym: sharp as a tack
- 1883 November 22, “Her Thanksgiving”, in The Youth's Companion, volume 56, number 47:
- He's a smart chap, though ——smart as a whip, and knows a horse, too. Takes after his uncle Hod there; and Hod's a deal smarter than Seth, if he'd only stick to something, or go in with somebody that would furnish the stick for him.