Whig

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A member of an 18th- and 19th-century British political party that was opposed to the Tories.
2. n. A supporter of the war against England during the American Revolution.
3. n. A 19th-century American political party formed to oppose the Democratic Party and favoring high tariffs and a loose interpretation of the Constitution.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Sour whey.
2. n. Buttermilk.
3. To move at an easy and steady pace; jog.
4. To urge forward, as a horse.
5. n. One of the adherents of the Presbyterian cause in Scotland about the middle of the seventeenth century: a name given in derision.
6. n. [capitalized] A member of one of the two great political parties of Great Britain, the other being the Tories (later the Conservatives). The whigs were the successors of the Roundheads of the Civil War and the Country party of the Restoration. The name was given to them about 1679 as a reproach by their opponents, the Court party, through a desire to confound them with the rebel Whigs of Scotland (see whig, 1). The Whigs favored the Revolution of 1688-9, and governed Great Britain for a long period in the eighteenth century. In general, they may be called the party of progress; one of their principal achievements was the passage of the Reform Bill in 1832. About the same time the name Whig began to be replaced by Liberal, though still retained to denote the more conservative members of the Liberal party. See Liberal, Tory.
7. n. [capitalized] In American history:
8. n. A member of the patriotic party during the revolutionary period.
9. n. One of a political party in the United States which grew up, in opposition to the Democratic party, out of the National Republican party. It was first called the Whig party in 1834. Its original principles were extension of nationalizing tendencies, and support of the United States Bank, of a protective tariff, and of a system of internal improvements at national expense. It won the presidential elections of 1840 and 1848, but soon after divided upon the slavery question. It lost its last national election in 1852, and soon after many of its members became temporarily members of the American and Constitutional Union parties, but eventually most of its northern members became Republicans, most of its southern members Democrats.
10. Relating to or composed of Whigs, in any use of that word; whiggish: as, Whig measures; a Whig ministry.
11. n. A variant of wig.

Wiktionary

1. n. UK, politics a member of an 18th- and 19th-century political party in Britain that was opposed to the Tories, and eventually became the Liberal Party
2. n. US, politics an advocate of war against Britain during the American Revolution
3. n. US, politics a member of a 19th-century US political party opposed to the Democratic Party

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Obs. or Prov. Eng. Acidulated whey, sometimes mixed with buttermilk and sweet herbs, used as a cooling beverage.
2. n. (Eng. Politics) One of a political party which grew up in England in the seventeenth century, in the reigns of Charles I. and II., when great contests existed respecting the royal prerogatives and the rights of the people. Those who supported the king in his high claims were called Tories, and the advocates of popular rights, of parliamentary power over the crown, and of toleration to Dissenters, were, after 1679, called Whigs. The terms Liberal and Radical have now generally superseded Whig in English politics. See the note under Tory.
3. n. A friend and supporter of the American Revolution; -- opposed to Tory, and Royalist.
4. n. One of the political party in the United States from about 1829 to 1856, opposed in politics to the Democratic party.
5. adj. Of or pertaining to the Whigs.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a supporter of the American Revolution
2. n. a member of the Whig Party that existed in the United States before the American Civil War
3. n. a member of the political party that urged social reform in 18th and 19th century England; was the opposition party to the Tories