<B>whip, </B>noun, verb, <B>whipped</B> or <B>whipt,</B> <B>whipping.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a thing to strike or beat with, usually a stick with a lash at the end. Lawbreakers used to be punished with a whip. <BR> <I>Ex. It is cruel to use a whip to punish a child.</I> (SYN) scourge, switch. <DD><B> 2. </B>a stroke or blow with or as if with a whip. <DD><B> 3. </B>a whipping or lashing motion. <DD><B> 4a. </B>a member of a political party who controls and directs the other members in a lawmaking body, as by seeing that they attend meetings in which important votes will be taken, and finding out how the vote is likely to go; party whip. <DD><B> b. </B>(British.) a call made on members of a political party in a legislature to attend a given session or remain in attendance for it. <DD><B> 5a. </B>the person who manages the hounds of a hunting pack. <DD><B> b. </B>a person who uses a driving whip; driver of horses; coachman. <DD><B> 6. </B>a dessert made by beating cream, eggs, and other ingredients, into a froth and adding fruit or a flavoring. <BR> <I>Ex. prune whip.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>a simple kind of tackle or pulley, consisting of a single block with a rope through it, used for hoisting. <DD><B> 8. </B>something that moves briskly, such as each of the vanes of a windmill. <DD><B> 9. </B>any one of various mechanical parts that move as a whip does. <DD><B> 10. </B>a vibrating spring for closing an electric circuit. <DD><B> 11. </B>a ride in an amusement park on a chain of cars changing direction sharply. <BR> <I>Ex. Features of particular interest to children will be pony rides, a ferris wheel, merry-go-round, the whip (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to strike or beat with a whip; lash. <BR> <I>Ex. He whipped the horse to make it go faster.</I> (SYN) scourge, flog, thrash, switch. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to strike or beat as if with a whip. <BR> <I>Ex. the rain whipping the pavement (Thackeray).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to move, put, or pull quickly and suddenly. <BR> <I>Ex. He whipped off his coat and whipped out his knife.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to bring, get, make, or produceby or as if by whipping. <BR> <I>Ex. to whip the nonsense out of someone. (Figurative.) We'll whip the car into shape for the next race. (Figurative.) She whipped up a dress for the party at the last minute.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) to rouse; incite; revive. <BR> <I>Ex. to whip up some enthusiasm.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to criticize or reprove with cutting severity. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Informal.) to defeat in a fight or contest; vanquish. <BR> <I>Ex. The mayor whipped his opponents in the election.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>to summon (in, up) to attend, as the members of a political party in a legislative body, for united action. <DD><B> 9. </B>to beat (cream, eggs, or other ingredients) to a froth. <DD><B> 10a. </B>to sew with stitches passing over and over an edge; overcast. <DD><B> b. </B>to overcast the rolled edge of (a fabric) and draw it into gathers. <DD><B> 11a. </B>to wind (a rope, stick, or spool) closely with thread or string. <DD><B> b. </B>to wind (cord, twine, or thread) in this way around something. <DD><B> 12. </B>to fish upon. <BR> <I>Ex. to whip a stream.</I> <DD><B> 13. </B>to hoist or haul with a rope and pulley. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to move suddenly and nimbly; start or go quickly; whisk; dart. <BR> <I>Ex. The thief whipped round the corner and escaped.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to beat, flap, or thrash about as the lash of a whip does; swish. <DD><B> 3. </B>to fish by casting with a motion like that of using a whip. <BR><I>expr. <B>whip in,</B> </I>to keep from scattering. <BR> <I>Ex. to whip in the foxhounds.</I> adj. <B>whiplike.</B> noun <B>whipper.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="whipcord">
<B>whipcord, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a thin, tough, tightly twisted cord, sometimes used for or braided into the lashes of whips. <DD><B> 2. </B>a closely woven, strong worsted cloth with diagonal ridges on it, used for suits and upholstery. <DD><B> 3. </B>a kind of catgut. <DD><I>adj. </I> taut, tough, or sinewy. <BR> <I>Ex. He was deeply tanned, middle-aged, and he had the whipcord conditioning of an athlete (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="whipcrack">
<B>whipcrack, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the crack of a whip. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. The words [need] more whipcrack of sharp, modern speech rhythms (Sunday Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="whipgraft">
<B>whip graft,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Horticulture.) a graft made by cutting the scion and stock in a sloping direction so as to fit each other, and by inserting a tongue on the scion into a slit in the stock; tongue graft. </DL>
<A NAME="whipgraft">
<B>whipgraft, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Horticulture.) to graft by cutting the scion and stock in a sloping direction and by inserting a tongue on the scion into a slit in the stock. </DL>
<A NAME="whipgrafting">
<B>whip grafting</B> or <B>graftage,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the act or method of making a whip graft. </DL>
<A NAME="whiphand">
<B>whip hand,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the hand (normally, the right hand) that holds the whip in driving. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a position of control; advantage. <BR> <I>Ex. A clever person frequently gets the whip hand over others.</I> (SYN) mastery. </DL>
<A NAME="whiplash">
<B>whiplash, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the lash of a whip. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. the whiplash of fear.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>Also, <B>whiplash injury.</B> an injury to the neck caused by a sudden jolt that snaps the head backward and forward, as to a driver whose car is struck with force from behind. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to beat or lash with a whiplash; treat harshly. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) For consumers, whiplashed the past couple of years by inflationary forces, the prospect of a price comedown ... is welcome news (Wall Street Journal).</I> (SYN) punish. </DL>
<A NAME="whipperin">
<B>whipper-in, </B>noun, pl. <B>whippers-in.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a huntsman's assistant who keeps the hounds from straying by driving them back with the whip into the main body of the pack. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Historical.) a whip (def. 4a). </DL>
<A NAME="whippersnapper">
<B>whipper-snapper</B> or <B>whippersnapper, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a young or insignificant person who thinks he is smart or important. <BR> <I>Ex. Don't pay any attention to that little whipper-snapper.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="whippet">
<B>whippet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small, very swift dog that looks somewhat like a small greyhound, often used in racing. <DD><B> 2. </B>Also, <B>whippet tank.</B> a small, relatively fast, lightly armored tank developed and used in World War I. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) a nimble, diminutive person. </DL>
<A NAME="whipping">
<B>whipping, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a striking with or as if with a whip; flogging. (SYN) flagellation. <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. The favored team got a good whipping from the underdogs.</I> (SYN) defeat, beating. <DD><B> 2a. </B>an arrangement of cord, twine, or the like, wound about a thing. <BR> <I>Ex. We fastened the broken rod with a whipping of wire.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the act of overlaying or binding with cord, twine, or the like, wound closely round and round. <DD><B> 3. </B>a beating to a froth or thickness. <BR> <I>Ex. Whipping is fast and easy when the cream is cold.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the bending or springing motion of something held rigidly at one end. <BR> <I>Ex. the whipping of an antenna in a strong wind.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>an overcasting in sewing. </DL>
<A NAME="whippingboy">
<B>whipping boy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that is the target of unmerited indignation or punishment; scapegoat. <DD><B> 2. </B>a boy educated together with a young prince or royal personage in former times, and flogged in his stead when the prince committed a fault that was considered to deserve flogging. </DL>
<A NAME="whippingcream">
<B>whipping cream,</B> <B>=heavy cream.</B></DL>
<A NAME="whippingpost">
<B>whipping post,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a post to which lawbreakers were tied to be whipped. </DL>
<B>whippoorwill, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a North American bird whose call sounds somewhat like its name. It is active at night or twilight. </DL>
<A NAME="whippy">
<B>whippy, </B>adjective, <B>-pier,</B> <B>-piest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>bending like a whip; flexible; springy. <BR> <I>Ex. With prestressed concrete we can make a whippy fishpole or a bouncy diving board (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) pert; snappy; saucy. <BR> <I>Ex. The girl--long, thin and whippy--was instantly a-grin (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="whipround">
<B>whip-round, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a request for or a collection of contributions. <BR> <I>Ex. Thanks to a whip-round, the paupers are assured of ample supplies of beef, plum pudding, porter and snuff (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="whipsaw">
<B>whipsaw, </B>noun, verb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a long, narrow saw with its ends held in a frame, used especially for curved work. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to cut with a whipsaw. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S. Informal, Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>to defeat or cause to fail in two opposite ways at the same time. <BR> <I>Ex. Instances of selling in the decline before the election with the intention of buying back later were whipsawed (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to have or take the advantage of, as by playing one against the other. <BR> <I>Ex. A major problem for dozens of U.S. industries: they must either stand together or risk being whipsawed by unions (Time).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to win at one turn or play (two bets from the same player), as in faro. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to bend back and forth; whip. <BR> <I>Ex. The next morning the 5-inch steel cable, worn by constant whipsawing, snapped (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to play one person, company, or group, against another. <BR> <I>Ex. Whipsawing is striking one company at a time, while permitting others to operate and thus adding to the pressure on the closed company (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or characteristic of whipsawing. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) whipsaw tactics.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="whipscorpion">
<B>whip scorpion,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a family of arachnids similar to the scorpions but having a slender, whiplike process on the abdomen and no sting. </DL>
<A NAME="whipshaped">
<B>whip-shaped, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> shaped like the lash of a whip; long and slender; flagelliform. </DL>
