# whip

Pronunciation: US say "WIP" /wɪp/; UK

## Noun

1. A lash or flexible instrument, such as a braided leather thong, used to strike a person or animal as corporal punishment or torture.
   - Simple: A long thin tool used to hit a person or animal as a punishment.
   - _The overseer cracked his whip across the man's back._
   - _Floggings with a whip were once a common punishment aboard naval ships._
2. A lash; a pliant, flexible instrument, such as a cane rod or a braided leather thong, used to make a sharp cracking sound for directing or herding animals.
   - Simple: A long thin tool of leather or cane that makes a loud crack, used to guide animals.
   - _The driver snapped his whip above the oxen without ever touching them._
   - _Stockmen on the cattle drive carried whips of plaited rawhide._
5. Cream that has been beaten until light and fluffy.
   - Simple: Cream that has been beaten until it is thick and fluffy.
   - _The barista crowned the mocha with a generous swirl of whip._
   - _Hold the whip on my sundae, please._
6. A member of a political party responsible for enforcing party discipline and ensuring that members vote according to the party's positions.
   - Simple: A person in a political party whose job is to make sure other members vote the way the party wants.
   - _The majority whip spent the morning rounding up votes for the budget bill._
   - _After the rebellion, several senators faced calls from the whip's office._
9. A blow delivered with a whip.
   - Simple: One hit or strike given with a whip.
   - _A single whip across the flank sent the startled horse bolting._
   - _The old sailor still bore scars from the whips he had received at sea._
14. A sudden lashing motion; a thrashing about.
   - Simple: A quick, sharp movement that snaps back and forth.
   - _The crocodile stunned its prey with a single whip of its tail._
   - _A sharp whip of the fishing rod sent the line far across the river._
16. A personal motor vehicle of any make or model, including motorcycles but not public transportation.
   - Simple: A casual word for someone's car or motorcycle.
   - _He pulled up to the party in a brand-new whip with tinted windows._
   - _She spent the whole weekend washing and waxing her whip._
19. Flexible, springy suppleness, as of the shaft of a golf club or a fishing rod.
   - Simple: The springy, bendy quality of something long and thin, like a fishing rod.
   - _Golfers with slower swings often prefer shafts with more whip._
   - _The vaulter's pole stores energy in its whip and releases it at the top of the jump._
21. A document distributed weekly to members of Parliament by party whips, informing them of upcoming parliamentary votes. *(UK)*
   - Simple: A weekly note from a political party telling its members of parliament about votes coming up.
   - _The whip marked Tuesday's vote with three underlines, signalling that attendance was mandatory._
   - _New MPs quickly learn to read the whip before planning travel back to their constituencies._
22. The standing of a member of Parliament within their parliamentary party, which the party can withdraw as a disciplinary measure. *(UK)*
   - Simple: A politician's official place in their party in parliament, which the party can take away to punish them.
   - _Twenty-one MPs had the whip withdrawn after rebelling on the key vote._
   - _Sitting as an independent, he hoped the whip would be restored before the next election._

## Verb

3. To strike a person or animal with a whip.
   - Simple: To hit a person or animal with a whip.
   - _The coachman whipped the horses up the steep grade._
   - _Under the new racing rules, jockeys may whip a horse no more than six times._
4. To mix something, especially food, in a rapid motion that incorporates air.
   - Simple: To stir food very fast so that air gets into it and it becomes light.
   - _Whip the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks._
   - _The barista whips the milk into a dense foam for each cappuccino._
7. To move very fast.
   - Simple: To move very quickly from one place to another.
   - _Taxis whip around the traffic circle at alarming speeds._
   - _She whipped down the stairs when the doorbell rang._
8. To move something very fast; often used with up, out, or similar words.
   - Simple: To move something very quickly, often pulling it out or up.
   - _She whipped a notebook out of her bag and started writing._
   - _The valet will whip your car around to the front in two minutes._
10. To strike a person or thing with any flexible object.
   - Simple: To hit someone or something with an object that bends, like a towel or a thin branch.
   - _She whipped the dusty rug with a thin bamboo cane._
   - _Campers learn never to whip each other with branches around the fire._
11. To urge or drive someone into action or obedience.
   - Simple: To push or drive someone hard until they act or obey.
   - _The foreman whipped his crew into finishing the bridge ahead of schedule._
   - _New drill instructors must whip undisciplined recruits into obedience within weeks._
12. To snap or lash back and forth like a whip.
   - Simple: To snap or swing back and forth very fast.
   - _Loose halyards whipped against the mast all night in the gale._
   - _Power lines whip violently during hurricanes, sometimes snapping under the strain._
13. To send an object flying very fast, by throwing or kicking it.
   - Simple: To throw or kick something very hard and fast.
   - _The shortstop whipped the ball to first base for the final out._
   - _Kids at the lake whip flat stones across the water to make them skip._
15. To lash someone with sarcasm, abuse, or harsh criticism.
   - Simple: To attack someone with sharp or cruel words.
   - _The reviewer whipped the novel mercilessly in Sunday's column._
   - _Talk show hosts whip their guests with sarcasm to get a reaction._
17. To compel a legislator to vote in line with their party's official position.
   - Simple: To make a politician vote the way their political party wants.
   - _Senior figures whipped wavering members into supporting the controversial bill._
   - _The party chose not to whip its representatives, allowing a free vote on the issue._
18. To defeat an opponent soundly, as in a contest, game, or competition. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To beat someone badly in a game or contest.
   - _The home team whipped their rivals by thirty points._
   - _He's convinced he can whip any challenger at arm wrestling._
20. To thresh; to beat grain out of its husks or stalks by striking it.
   - Simple: To hit grain plants hard so the seeds fall out.
   - _Before machines, workers would whip sheaves of barley against a stone floor._
   - _She whipped the rice stalks over the edge of a basket to free the kernels._
23. To fish a stream or other body of water by making repeated casts over it.
   - Simple: To fish in a river or lake by throwing your line out again and again.
   - _Anglers whip the pools below the falls when the trout are rising._
   - _She whipped the shoreline for an hour before a bass finally struck._
24. To bind the end of a rope tightly with twine to keep it from fraying or unraveling.
   - Simple: To wrap thin string tightly around the end of a rope so it does not come apart.
   - _Before stowing the new line, she whipped both ends with waxed twine._
   - _Crews whip every working line aboard so the strands stay tightly laid._
25. To sew lightly with overcast stitches; specifically, to gather fabric by loosely overcasting a rolled edge and drawing up the thread.
   - Simple: To sew cloth with light, loose stitches over the edge.
   - _She whipped the rolled edge of the ruffle and drew up the thread to gather it._
   - _Seamstresses whip lace onto a garment's edge with nearly invisible stitches._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A huntsman's assistant responsible for keeping the pack of hounds together; a whipper-in.
- (noun) A coach driver; a coachman, in the era of horse-drawn travel.
- (noun) A tackle in which a rope runs through a single block to gain a two-to-one mechanical advantage.
- (verb) To hoist a load by means of a rope led through a single block.
- (noun) A maneuver in which one skater transfers momentum to another, slinging a teammate forward to boost their speed.
- (noun) A springy metal contact that completes a circuit in certain electrical equipment.
- (noun) Another name for the wippen, a pivoting lever in some piano actions that passes the key's motion on toward the hammer.
- (verb) In skating, to shift momentum between skaters, as when one grabs a teammate and slings them forward.

## Origin

From Middle English whippen or wippen ("to flap violently"), from Middle Dutch wippen ("to swing, leap, oscillate") and Middle Low German wippen ("to move quickly"), going back to Proto-Germanic *wipjaną ("to move back and forth"); there is some similarity to Sanskrit वेप् (vep, "shake") and Latin vibrō ("I shake"). The unetymological wh- probably imitates the sound of a whip, like in whisk, whack, and whoosh. The political senses come from whipper-in, 18th-century hunting terminology for the huntsman who kept the hounds from wandering.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/whip (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).