whip
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: wĭp
ipa: /wɪp/
rhymes: -ɪp
enpr: hwĭp
ipa: /ʍɪp/
Forms: form: whips
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 *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.
Senses: examples: text: I had to use the whip to get the sheep's attention.
glosses: 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.
examples: text: Once he ran out of appeals, he knew he would soon feel the sting of the whip.
glosses: 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.
The same instrument used to strike a person or animal for corporal punishment or torture.
examples: text: I had hardly said the word, when Kit jumped into the saddle, and gave his horse a whip and a spur — and off it cantered, as if it were in as great a hurry to be married as Kit himself.
ref: 1832, The Atheneum, volume 31, page 493:
glosses: A blow administered with a whip.
examples: text: At half-past ten, Tom Moody, Sir Huddlestone Fuddlestone's huntsman, was seen trotting up the avenue, followed by the noble pack of hounds in a compact body—the rear being brought up by the two whips clad in stained scarlet frocks—light hard-featured lads on well-bred lean horses, possessing marvellous dexterity in casting the points of their long heavy whips at the thinnest part of any dog's skin who dares to straggle from the main body […]
ref: 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
text: 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.
ref: 1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin, published 2013, page 27:
topics: hobbies
hunting
lifestyle
glosses: A whipper-in.
examples: text: 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.
text: The Conservative deputy chief whip has resigned after admitting he had “embarrassed myself and other people” following reports that he drunkenly groped two men at a private club.
ref: 2022 June 30, “Tory deputy chief whip resigns after ‘drunkenly groping two men’”, in The Guardian:
text: Therefore, welcome new Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper, a man about whom even my esteemed political journalist friends know little - apart from the fact he was once Chief Whip, a job that requires knowing about every Tory MP's misdemeanours.
ref: 2022 November 16, Christian Wolmar, “Can Merriman use his rail knowledge to make a difference?”, in RAIL, number 970, page 44:
topics: government
politics
synonyms: party whip
whipper-in
glosses: A member of a political party who is in charge of enforcing the party's policies in votes.
topics: government
politics
glosses: A document distributed weekly to MPs by party whips informing them of upcoming votes in parliament.
examples: text: to withdraw the whip
text: As a result, he was stripped of the whip on Tuesday, preventing him from voting in the fourth ballot to narrow down candidates to be the next party leader.
ref: 2022 July 20, Heather Stewart, “Tobias Ellwood temporarily given back Tory whip to vote in leadership contest”, in The Guardian:
text: In the letter, Hancock said he had spoken to the Conservatives’ chief whip, Simon Hart, last week, and been told the whip would be restored in time, “but that is now not necessary” – meaning he will sit as an independent until the next election.
ref: 2022 December 7, Peter Walker, “Row grows over Matt Hancock’s announcement he is quitting as MP”, in The Guardian:
topics: government
politics
glosses: The regular status of an MP within a parliamentary party, which can be revoked by the party as a disciplinary measure.
examples: text: Did you want to add some whip to your coffee, ma'am?
glosses: Whipped cream.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A purchase in which one block is used to gain a 2:1 mechanical advantage.
examples: text: Had four bills and I bought me a car / Little red whip that I bought for my marge
ref: 2015, Stormzy, “Shut Up” (track 15), in Gang Signs & Prayer, performed by Stormzy:
text: Big whip I'm underground parking
ref: 2017, Stormzy, Return of the Rucksack:
text: Come on, let's take my whip so we can get there in time.
qualifier: African-American Vernacular
glosses: A mode of personal motorized transportation; an automobile, all makes and models including motorcycles, excluding public transportation.
hyponyms: hip whip
qualifier: roller derby
glosses: A move in which one player transfers momentum to another.
examples: text: I was startled by the whip of the rope when it finally snapped.
glosses: A whipping motion; a thrashing about.
glosses: The quality of being whiplike or flexible; suppleness, as of the shaft of a golf club.
glosses: Any of various pieces that operate with a quick vibratory motion
A spring in certain electrical devices for making a circuit
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: Any of various pieces that operate with a quick vibratory motion
A wippen, a rocking component in certain piano actions.
examples: text: Lord Carington […] led the way with his chestnuts, having a distinguished brother whip, Lord Londesborough, by his side.
ref: 1871, Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes, volume 20, page 308:
glosses: A coach driver; a coachman.
Synonyms: sense: lash for directing animals
word: crop
raw_tags: for horses
sense: lash for directing animals
word: dressage whip
raw_tags: for horses
sense: lash for directing animals
word: driving whip
raw_tags: for horses
sense: lash for directing animals
word: jumping bat
raw_tags: for horses
sense: lash for directing animals
word: flail
sense: lash for directing animals
word: knout
sense: lash for directing animals
word: lash
sense: lash for directing animals
word: quirt
sense: lash for directing animals
word: scourge
sense: lash for directing animals
word: sjambok
sense: lash for directing animals
word: thong
sense: lash for corporal punishment
word: cat
topics: nautical
transport
sense: lash for corporal punishment
word: cat-o'-nine-tails
sense: lash for corporal punishment
word: flail
sense: lash for corporal punishment
word: knout
sense: lash for corporal punishment
word: lash
sense: lash for corporal punishment
word: quirt
sense: lash for corporal punishment
word: scourge
sense: lash for corporal punishment
word: sjambok
sense: lash for corporal punishment
word: thong
sense: political party enforcer
word: party whip
Hyponyms: buggy whip
bullwhip
coachwhip
crop
dogwhip
drafting whip
horsewhip
longe whip
party whip
riding crop
signal whip
signalwhip
snake whip
snakewhip
stockwhip
yard whip
Derived terms: word: bullock-whip
word: bullwhip
word: chain whip
taxonomic: Fouquieria splendens
word: coachwhip
word: crack-the-whip
word: crack the whip
word: double-line whip
word: Eastwood's whip lizard
word: fair crack of the whipdogwhip
word: horsewhip
word: hose-whip
word: hunting whip
word: Irish whip
word: knight of the whip
word: misery whip
word: one-line whip
word: pencil whip
word: penny whip
word: riding whip
word: sea whip coral
word: sea whip
word: sea-whip
word: sennet whip
word: signal whip
word: single-line whip
word: smart as a whip
word: snakewhip
word: stockwhip
word: three-line whip
word: two-line whip
word: weed whip
word: whip and spur
word: whip coral
word: whipcracking
word: whip cream
word: whip gin
word: whip graft
word: whip grafting
word: whip hand
word: whip kick
word: whiplash
word: whip pan
word: whip scorpion
word: whip-smart
word: whip spider
word: whip stitch
word: whip-tom-kelly
word: whip zoom
Related terms: whip snake