n.
- a strip of leather or length of cord fastened to a handle, used for beating a person or urging on an animal.
- an official of a political party appointed to maintain parliamentary discipline among its members, especially so as to ensure attendance and voting in debates.
▸Brit. a written notice from such an official requesting attendance for voting.
▸
(the whip)
Brit. 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.
- a dessert made from cream or eggs beaten into a light fluffy mass.
- short for whipper-in.
- a slender, unbranched shoot or plant.
- a rope-and-pulley hoisting apparatus.
v.
(whips, whipping, whipped)
- beat with a whip.
▸(of a flexible object or rain or wind) strike or beat violently.
▸
(whip someone up)
deliberately excite or provoke someone.
▸
(whip something up)
stimulate a particular feeling in someone.
▸informal defeat heavily in a sporting contest.
- move or take out fast or suddenly.
▸
(whip something up)
make or prepare something, especially food, very quickly.
- beat (cream, eggs, or other food) into a froth.
- Brit. informal steal.
-
(whip in)
Hunting act as whipper-in.
- bind with spirally wound twine.
▸sew or gather with overcast stitches.
-
[as adj. whipped]
N. Amer. informal worn out; exhausted.
Phrase
- the whip hand
a position of power or control.
Derivative
- whip-like adj.
- whipper n.
- whipping n.
Etymology
ME: prob. from Mid. Low Ger. and MDu. wippen ‘swing, leap, dance’, from a Gmc base meaning ‘move quickly’.