whip the cat (English, verb)
expansion: whip the cat (third-person singular simple present whips the cat, present participle whipping the cat, simple past and past participle whipped the cat)
expansion: (idiomatic)
Senses:
glosses: To attempt to get work or money from someone who is too weak or poor to provide it.
tags: idiomatic
glosses: To practice extreme parsimony.
tags: Australia
UK
idiomatic
obsolete
glosses: To regret; to feel self-pity
tags: Australia
New-Zealand
idiomatic
glosses: To blame someone for something that is not their fault.
tags: idiomatic
glosses: To get drunk.
tags: idiomatic
glosses: To go from house to house working by the day, as itinerant tailors and carpenters do.
tags: US
dated
dialectal
idiomatic
glosses: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see whip, cat.
tags: idiomatic
Forms:
form: whips the cat
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: whipping the cat
tags: participle
present
form: whipped the cat
tags: participle
past
form: whipped the cat
tags: past