whip

Meaning

Noun

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.
2. 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.
3. A blow administered with a whip.
4. A whipper-in.
5. A member of a political party who is in charge of enforcing the party's policies in votes.
6. (UK, with-definite-article) A document distributed weekly to MPs by party whips informing them of upcoming votes in parliament.
7. (UK, broadly) The regular status of an MP within a parliamentary party, which can be revoked by the party as a disciplinary measure.
8. Whipped cream.
9. A purchase in which one block is used to gain a 2:1 mechanical advantage.
10. A mode of personal motorized transportation; an automobile, all makes and models including motorcycles, excluding public transportation.
11. A move in which one player transfers momentum to another.
12. A whipping motion; a thrashing about.
13. The quality of being whiplike or flexible; suppleness, as of the shaft of a golf club.
14. Any of various pieces that operate with a quick vibratory motion
15. Any of various pieces that operate with a quick vibratory motion
16. (historical) A coach driver; a coachman.

Verb

1. (transitive) To hit with a whip.
2. (broadly, transitive) To hit with any flexible object.
3. (slang, transitive) To defeat, as in a contest or game.
4. (transitive) To mix in a rapid aerating fashion, especially food.
5. (transitive) To urge into action or obedience.
6. (transitive) To enforce a member voting in accordance with party policy.
7. (transitive) To bind the end of a rope with twine or other small stuff to prevent its unlaying: fraying or unravelling.
8. (transitive) To hoist or purchase by means of a whip.
9. To sew lightly; specifically, to form (a fabric) into gathers by loosely overcasting the rolled edge and drawing up the thread.
10. (transitive) To throw or kick an object at a high velocity.
11. (ambitransitive) To fish a body of water especially by making repeated casts.
12. (intransitive) To snap back and forth like a whip.
13. (intransitive) To move very fast.
14. (transitive) To move (something) very fast; often with up, out, etc.
15. (transitive) To transfer momentum from one skater to another.
16. (figuratively) To lash with sarcasm, abuse, etc.
17. To thrash; to beat out, as grain, by striking.

Synonyms

lash

beat

flog

scourge

thrash

switch

hit

strike

spank

cane

flagellate

strap

trounce

horsewhip

slash

chastise

quirt

rod

smack

knout

whisk

stir

welt

punish

mix

defeat

cord

slap

scald

party whip

club

lather

birch

wallop

goad

thong

beat up

stick

swing

overcome

flagellum

worst

scramble

slug

rack up

coachman

blister

attack

👊

pip

lick

Translations

fouet

fouetter

frusta

Peitsche

látigo

frustare

azotar

zweep

auspeitschen

peitschen

fuet

flageller

chicote

schlagen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/wɪp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: whippen

Cognate with Latin: vibrō

In summary

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 *wipjaną (“to move back and forth”). Some similarity to Sanskrit root वेप् (vep, “shake, flourish”), Latin vibrō (“I shake”). (See Swedish vippa and Danish vippe (“to shake”)).
The unetymological wh- is probably expressive of the sound of a whip; compare the same development in whisk and onomatopoeias such as whack and whoosh.
The political senses are from whipper-in (“huntsman who keeps the hounds from wandering”), 18th century hunting terminology.