whip
/wɪp
/noun
1A strip of leather or length of cord fastened to a handle, used for flogging or beating a person or for urging on an animal.I wouldn't be surprised if they walked around their office wearing tight leather and vinyl with whips and riding crops at their sides....
- He makes handmade leather belts, whips and other items.
- Some teachers also punish students by flogging them with whips made of rubber (from strips of old car tires), with heavier canes, or simply by slapping, kicking, or pinching them.
Synonyms
lash, scourge, thong, strap, belt;
crop, switch, birch, cane
historical cat-o'-nine-tails, cat, knout
1.1A blow with a whip or similar implement.What my father didn't know was that my brother would look after me; if I got the whip, when my dad had left, Jonathan would always clean the blood off my back....
- The slaves received the whip with more certainty and regularity than they received their food.
1.2Used to refer to something causing pain or acting as a stimulus to action: the team management had decided to crack the whip on player indiscipline...
- It also wants all broadcasters to provide news content for kids - and if this doesn't happen, it wants the regulator to crack the whip over dumbed-down channels.
- With local authorities falling behind, the Scottish Executive must crack the whip and get things back on track.
- I would crack the whip and get the band all together.
2An official of a political party appointed to maintain parliamentary discipline among its members, especially so as to ensure attendance and voting in debates.It is almost certain that a government with a decent Parliamentary majority will win this as the bill represents what that government wants and the party whips will ensure that a smooth vote takes place....
- Alex Johnstone, the parliamentary whip, said MSPs had only discussed a ‘broad position’.
- Furthermore, the Prime Minister has had no difficulty in finding Parliamentary whips to organise majorities even for the most contentious legislation.
2.1British A written notice from a whip requesting attendance for voting. See also three-line whip.One in seven Labour MPs defied the whip by voting against or abstaining....
- Despite the party whip, 36 Labour MPs voted against the 42-day detention bill.
- For the ANC, this has allowed us to prepare a one-page Weekly Whip for our Members, informing us exactly when each debate is to take place and whether there is a two or three-line whip.
2.2 (the whip) British Membership of the group of MPs that form the official, elected representation of a particular political party, together with the duties or rights associated with such membership: he resigned the Tory whip in protest at mine closures...
- The party's ruling council has been convened to debate disciplinary action against three MPs who have defied party policy and have resigned the whip at Westminster.
- The MPs angered the party leadership in June by resigning the whip at Westminster in a row over policy.
- The unions say the rebels should be ‘honest enough to resign the whip.’
3 [mass noun] A dessert consisting of cream or eggs beaten into a light fluffy mass with fruit, chocolate, or other ingredients.The fritters and walnut whip are now ready to be enjoyed....
- Learn how to make lemon whip by following this easy recipe.
4 short for whipper-in.The ‘whips’ must not allow the hounds to go onto land where hunting is not permitted....
- The whips go to the covert (a thicket or section of woods where the fox is supposed to be) and watch for the fox to go away, and then they signal the fox's escape from the covert.
5A slender, unbranched shoot or plant.Each spring, bunches of whips grow out of these branches and away from the wall toward the sun.
6 [with modifier] North American A scythe for cutting specified crops: a grass whip...
- Help! My grass is out of control and I will need a grass whip to cut some places that I can't drive my lawn mower.
- Today Id like to spend a few minutes discussing what is commonly known as a weed whip or grass trimmer.
7A rope-and-pulley hoisting apparatus.You can shorten the pulley whip down to 350mm although most that I know of go to about 400....
- These whips are exceptionally strong and will not obstruct your waterfront view.
8US informal A car: I just got new wheels for my whip...
- He parks his whip right in his old neighborhood.
- This song will sound ill in my whip this summer.
- He appears to be driving her new whip, as he posted a picture of himself sitting on the Porsche.
verb (whips, whipping, whipped) [with object]
1Beat (a person or animal) with a whip or similar instrument, especially as a punishment or to urge them on: Lewis whipped the boy twenty times...
- There they kicked us, beat us, whipped us with electric cables and shocked us with electricity!
- Then he was dipped into a vat of water as he was whipped and beaten before being assaulted with an iron bar.
- I went off to government boarding schools and there they used to whip you and beat you if you spoke your Indian language.
Synonyms
flog, scourge, flagellate, lash, birch, switch, tan, strap, belt, cane, thrash, beat, leather, tan/whip someone's hide, give someone a hiding, beat the living daylights out of
1.1(Of a flexible object or rain or wind) strike or beat violently: the wind whipped their faces...
- Out in the open sea, whipped by the wind, waves were bursting over the just-submerged reefs.
- They're being whipped by winds of as much as 30 miles an hour.
- Her blond hair was being whipped by the wind and behind her black clouds boiled and lightning flashed, or so it seemed to George and the woman.
1.2 informal (Of a player or team) defeat (a person or team) heavily in a sporting contest: he whipped the Brazilian 6-1, 6-2, 6-3...
- Playing soft in practice and hard in games is a lazy man's approach and you will get whipped by the teams that play hard in practice, too.
- Look at our results this season and only two teams have whipped us, the Ospreys and Toulouse.
- Promoters even brought Jim Jeffries out of retirement in 1910 in the expectation that he would whip Johnson.
2 [no object, with adverbial of direction] Move fast or suddenly in a specified direction: he whipped round to face them...
- He jerked upright, his head whipping around in her direction.
- Shelby heard it, and her head whipped around in his direction.
- I was startled, and my head whipped toward the direction of the voice.
2.1 [with object and adverbial of direction] Take out or move (something) fast or suddenly: he whipped out his revolver and shot him...
- He grabbed her arms suddenly and whipped her body around, moving her backwards until she was backed up against the wall, trapped.
- The boys turned back to their bowling game, which as it turned out, was merely a contest to see who could whip the ball fastest down the lane.
- She was suddenly aware of a presence beside her, and whipped her head about.
Synonyms
pull, whisk, snatch, pluck, tug, jerk, remove, take;
produce
informal yank
3Beat (cream, eggs, or other food) into a froth.You can whip melted chocolate like cream, the fat and the lecithin acting as a stabilizer for the foam....
- Using the whipping attachments, whip the sugar and cream until medium stiff peaks are achieved.
- Just before serving, gently whip the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla until it just starts to thicken.
Synonyms
whisk, beat, mix, stir
4British informal Steal (something): the escaper had whipped his overcoat...
- Christmas is special in many homes, but not when intruders whip four garden gnomes.
- What's really annoying, from a sales assistant's point of view is when you look for something on the system and it says it's there, but you can't find it (probably because someone's whipped it) and the customer often then takes it out on you and you end up having a horrible day at work.
5Bind (something) with spirally wound twine: the side linings are whipped or hemmed...
- The edges are whipped with wool yarns.
5.1Sew or gather (something) with overcast stitches: she began whipping narrow lace along the top of the garment...
- Not only did they listen while they mixed cakes or whipped seams, but they often repeated in concert and memorized much of what was read to them.
Phrases
when the whips are cracking
the whip hand
whips of
whip someone's ass
Phrasal verbs
whip in
whip someone into
whip someone up
whip something up
Derivatives
whip-like
- Rays and skates have a cartilaginous skeleton with wide depressed bodies, whip-like tails and well-developed pectoral fins that are fused to their head.
- The tip of his long, whip-like tail flicked lazily beside him.
- The whip-like snap of a small-caliber flintlock is a lovely sound.
whipper
- At the press of a button, the heated water blends with the pre-mix and is stirred to the correct consistency by a mechanical whipper.
Origin
Middle English: probably from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch wippen 'swing, leap, dance', from a Germanic base meaning 'move quickly'. The noun is partly from the verb, reinforced by Middle Low German wippe 'quick movement'.
A word that came into English from old German and Dutch wippen ‘to swing, leap, dance’. The parliamentary whip, responsible for ensuring that party members turn up and vote in debates, was originally a whipper-in. This is a term in hunting, where the whipper-in uses his whip to keep the hounds from straying. The short form is first found in 1850. A whip-round, or collection of contributions of money, is related, coming in the 1860s from whip in the sense ‘a notice from a whip requiring MPs to attend a vote’. Since the late 17th century a whippersnapper has been a young person who is presumptuous or overconfident. It is literally ‘a person who cracks a whip’—the connection was probably making a lot of noise but achieving little. A whipping boy is a person who is blamed for the faults of others. Originally it was a boy who was educated with a young prince and, because it would not be right for a commoner to beat a royal person, punished instead of him.