whip

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“
Colonel insisted with great gravity, that the whip is the only "moral suasion" a darky is capable of understanding.

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Definitions (91)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (29)

  1. transitive verb To strike with repeated strokes, as with a strap or rod; lash.
  2. transitive verb To punish or chastise by repeated striking with a strap or rod; flog.
  3. transitive verb To afflict, castigate, or reprove severely: "For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure” (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (46)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (5)

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Examples (50)

  • But I have no inclination to disgust myself with another description of the horrid torment of which in America, the whip is the active and continual instrument. —  The White Slave; or, Memoirs of a Fugitive
  • As entreaties and threats were used in vain, the whip was at length applied; and after bearing patiently a few strokes, she started up and walked with tolerable expedition for four or five hours longer, when she made an attempt to run away from the coffle, but was so very weak, that she fell down in the grass. —  Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa
  • Though she was unable to rise, the whip was a second time applied, but without effect; upon which Karfa desired two of the Slatees to place her upon the ass which carried our dry provisions; but she could not sit erect; and the ass being very refractory, it was found impossible to carry her forward in that manner. —  Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa
  • A leather whip is a good way to show them who's boss - just be careful how you crack that baby!
  • After inaugurating the Secretaries 'Conference, the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, P.D.T. Acharya said: "Anti-defection law and the role of the whip are among the subjects discussed at the conference." —  dailyindia.com News Feed
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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

knife ·  lash ·  rope ·  stick ·  spear ·  axe ·  dagger ·  bolt ·  rod ·  chain ·  hammer ·  weapon

Used in the same contextWord Family

whip:   whips ·  whipping ·  whipped
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English wippen, whippen; see weip- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. from Middle English whippen, whyppen, not found in Anglo-Saxon (the alleged Anglo-Saxon *hweop, a whip, *hweopian, whip, scourge, in Somner, being unauthenticated); prob. a variant of wippen, from Middle Dutch wippen, shake, wag, Dutch wippen, skip, hasten, also give the strappado (cf. wip, a swipe, the strappado), = Middle Low German wippen, Low German wippen, wuppen, move up and down (later G. wippen, move up and down, balance, see-saw, rock, draw up on a gibbet and drop suddenly, give the strappado), = Swedish vippa, wag, jerk, give the strappado, = Danish vippe, see-saw, rock, bob; a secondary verb, connected with Old High German wipph, Middle High German wipf, swinging, quick motion, and Middle High German G. weifen, cause to swing, move, wind, or turn; causative of Middle High German wīfen, swing; akin to L. vibrare, vibrate, Sanskrit √ vip, tremble: see vibrate. The Gaelic cuip, a whip, and the W. chwip, a quick turn, chwipio, move briskly or nimbly, are prob. from English: see quip. In defs. 7, etc., the verb is from the noun. For the change from wip (Middle English wippen) to whip, cf. whap, wap.
  2. from Middle English whippe, quippe = Middle Dutch wippe, a whip, Dutch wip, a swipe, strappado, moment: see whip, v.
  3. An elliptical use of whip, v. Cf. Low German wips! quickly, = Swedish Danish vips! pop! quick!
 

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/hwɪp/
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