whip

See also WHIP

English

Etymology

From Middle English hwippen or whippen. Middle High German wipfen, wepfen and Middle Dutch wippen (“to move quickly”), possibly all from a Proto-Germanic *wip. Some similarity to Sanskrit root वेप् (vep), Latin vibrō (“I shake”). (See Swedish vippa and Danish vippe (“to shake”)).

Pronunciation

Noun

whip (plural whips)

  1. A lash; a pliant, flexible instrument, such as a rod (commonly of cane or rattan) or a plaited or braided rope or thong (commonly of leather) used to create a sharp "crack" sound for directing or herding animals
    1. Same instrument used to strike a person or animal for corporal punishment or torture.
  2. (politics) A member of a political party who is in charge of enforcing the party's policies in votes.
  3. Whipped cream.
  4. (nautical) A purchase in which one block is used to gain a 2:1 mechanical advantage.
  5. (African American Vernacular) A mode of personal motorized transportation; an automobile, all makes and models including motorcycles, excluding public transportation.
  6. (roller derby) A move in which one player transfers momentum to another.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Terms derived from whip (noun)

Translations

rod or rope
party policy enforcer
whipped cream — see whipped cream

Verb

whip (third-person singular simple present whips, present participle whipping, simple past and past participle whipped)

  1. (transitive) To hit with a whip.
    whip the horse.
  2. (transitive) By extension, to hit with any flexible object.
    I whipped her with a newspaper.
  3. (transitive) To defeat.
    • 2008, Edward Keating , The Joy of Ex: A Novel
      She whips me in the first game of pool, I do not even get a shot. Eight-balled from the break.
      “Have you been practising?” I ask my sister.
      “Some,” she says, “play again?”
      “One more.”
      My sister beats me at pool in public a second time. I claim some dignity back by potting two of my balls before Tammy sinks the black.
  4. (transitive) To mix in a rapid aerating fashion, especially food.
    Can you whip this to make the sauce smoother.
  5. (transitive) To urge into action.
    He whipped the department into shape.
  6. (transitive, nautical) To bind the end of a rope with twine or other small stuff to prevent its unlaying: fraying or unravelling
  7. (transitive) To throw or kick an object at a high velocity.
    • He whipped the ball at me.
    • 2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, BBC:
      Composed play then saw Sam Ricketts nutmeg Ashley Cole before Taylor whipped a fine curling effort over Petr Cech's bar.
  8. (transitive) To fish a body of water especially by making repeated casts.
  9. (intransitive) To snap back and forth like a whip.
    • The pennants whipped in the wind.
  10. (intransitive) To move very fast.
    • The wind whipped through the valley.
    • He whipped a banknote out of his pocket.
    • L'Estrange
      Two friends, travelling, met a bear upon the way; the one whips up a tree, and the other throws himself flat upon the ground.
    • 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde
      He looked up when I came in, gave a kind of cry, and whipped upstairs into the cabinet. It was but for one minute that I saw him, but the hair stood upon my head like quills.
  11. (transitive) (roller derby) To transfer momentum from one skater to another.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the template {{sense|"gloss"}}, substituting a short version of the definition for "gloss".

Derived terms

Terms derived from whip (verb)

Translations

to hit with a whip
by extension, to hit with any flexible object
to defeat
to mix food in a rapid aerating fashion
to urge into action
nautical: to bind the end of a rope with twine
to throw at high velocity
to fish by making repeated casts
to snap back and forth like a whip
to move very fast
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

References

  • Samuel Johnson, John Walker, Robert S. Jameson: 1828. A dictionary of the English language 2nd edition. Publisher: William Pickering, 1828. 831 pages. Page 818. Google Public Domain Books : [[1]]
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Last modified on 19 May 2013, at 15:53