Definition of: whip

(hwip) v. whipped or whipt, whip·ping v.t.
1. To strike with a lash, rod, strap, etc.
2. To punish by striking thus; flog.
3. To drive or urge with lashes or blows; with on, up, off, etc.
4. To strike in the manner of a whip: The wind whipped the trees.
5. To attack with scathing criticism; berate; flay.
6. To beat, as eggs or cream, to a froth.
7. To seize, move, jerk, throw, etc., with a sudden motion: with away, in, off, out, etc.
8. In fishing, to make repeated casts upon the surface of (a stream, etc.).
9. To wrap (rope, cable, etc.) with light line so as to prevent chafing or wear; serve.
10. To wrap or bind about something.
11. To form, as a flat seam, by laying two selvages of a fabric together and sewing with a loose overcast or overhand stitch.
12. U.S. Colloq. To defeat; overcome, as in a contest.
13. Naut. To hoist by means of a whip (def. 5).
—ν.i.
14. To go, come, move, or turn suddenly and quickly: with away, in, off, out, etc.
15. To thrash about in a manner suggestive of a whip: pennants whipping in the wind.
16. In fishing, to make repeated casts with rod and line.
—to whip in
1. To keep from scattering, as hounds in a hunt.
2. To keep together or united, as a political party.
—to whip up
1. To excite; arouse.
2. Colloq. To prepare quickly, as a meal.
—noun
1. An instrument consisting of a lash attached to a handle, used for driving draft animals or for administering punishment.
2. One who handles a whip expertly; a driver.
3. A stroke, blow, or cut with a whip.
4. A member of a legislative body appointed unofficially to enforce the discipline and look after the interests of his party: often called party whip; also, a call made upon members of a legislature by such a person to bring or keep them in their places at a given time, as when a vote or division may be expected.
5. Mech. A simple form of hoisting apparatus, consisting of a rope passing over an elevated single pulley, and used for lifting light objects.
6. One who operates such an apparatus.
7. A huntsman who whips in the hounds to control them; a whipper–in.
8. Electr. A vibrating spring that whips back and forth, closing different circuits in electrical apparatus.
9. A dish or dessert containing cream or eggs whipped to a froth: prune whip.
10. A thrashing motion, as of a rope or wire suddenly broken.
11. Flexibility in the shaft of a golf club.
12. An arm of a windmill.
13. Obs. or Scot. An attack of illness; also, a sudden movement; a single swift attack or blow. [ME wippen, hwippen. Cf. MDu. wippen swing, leap, dance.]