whip
Forms
- Plural
- whips
- present (v1)
- whip
- past (v2)
- whipped
- past participle (v3)
- whipped
- present participle
- whipping
- 3rd person singular
- whips
Definitions
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.
- I had to use the whip to get the sheep's attention.
- Once he ran out of appeals, he knew he would soon feel the sting of the whip.
2.A whipper-in.
- From the far side of the wood came the long shrill screech […] which signifies that one of the whips has viewed the fox quitting the covert.
3.A member of a political party who is in charge of enforcing the party's policies in votes.
- I was going to vote against the bill, but the party whip came to see me and made it clear I needed to vote for it.
4.A blow administered with a whip.
1.To hit with any flexible object.
- I whipped her with a newspaper.
2.To defeat, as in a contest or game.(slang)
- She whips me in the first game of pool, I do not even get a shot. Eight-balled from the break.
3.To mix in a rapid aerating fashion, especially food.
4.To hit with a whip.
- The rider whipped the horse.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4890
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English whippen, wippen (“to flap violently”), from Middle Dutch wippen (“to swing, leap, dance, oscillate”) and Middle Low German wippen (“to move quickly”), from Proto-Germanic *wippōną (“to move back and forth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to shake; to swing”). (See Swedish vippa and Danish vippe (“to shake”)).