¦ noun
1. a strip of leather or length of cord fastened to a handle, used for beating a person or urging on an animal.
2. an official of a political party appointed to maintain parliamentary discipline among its members, especially so as to ensure attendance and voting in debates.
Brit. a written notice from such an official requesting attendance for voting.
(the whip) Brit. membership of the group of MPs that form the official elected representation of a particular political party, together with the duties or rights associated with such membership.
3. a dessert made from cream or eggs beaten into a light fluffy mass.
5. a slender, unbranched shoot or plant.
6. a rope-and-pulley hoisting apparatus.
¦ verb (whips, whipping, whipped)
1. beat with a whip.
(of a flexible object or rain or wind) strike or beat violently.
(whip someone up) deliberately excite or provoke someone.
(whip something up) stimulate a particular feeling in someone.
informal defeat heavily in a sporting contest.
2. move or take out fast or suddenly.
(whip something up) make or prepare something, especially food, very quickly.
3. beat (cream, eggs, or other food) into a froth.
4. Brit. informal steal.
5. (whip in) Hunting act as whipper-in.
6. bind with spirally wound twine.
sew or gather with overcast stitches.
7. [as adjective whipped] N. Amer. informal worn out; exhausted.
Phrases
the whip hand a position of power or control.
Derivatives
whip-like adjective
whipper noun
whipping noun
Origin
ME: prob. from Mid. Low Ger. and MDu. wippen 'swing, leap, dance', from a Gmc base meaning 'move quickly'.