WHIP

To strike with a lash, a cord, a rod, or anything slender and lithe; to lash; to beat; as, to whip a horse, or a carpet.

To drive with lashes or strokes of a whip; to cause to rotate by lashing with a cord; as, to whip a top.

To punish with a whip, scourge, or rod; to flog; to beat; as, to whip a vagrant; to whip one with thirty nine lashes; to whip a perverse boy. Who, for false quantities, was whipped at school. Dryden.

To apply that which hurts keenly to; to lash, as with sarcasm, abuse, or the like; to apply cutting language to. They would whip me with their fine wits. Shak.

To thrash; to beat out, as grain, by striking; as, to whip wheat.

To beat (eggs, cream, or the like) into a froth, as with a whisk, fork, or the like.

To conquer; to defeat, as in a contest or game; to beat; to surpass. [Slang, U. S.]

To overlay (a cord, rope, or the like) with other cords going round and round it; to overcast, as the edge of a seam; to wrap; -- often with about, around, or over. Its string is firmly whipped about with small gut. Moxon.

To sew lightly; specifically, to form (a fabric) into gathers by loosely overcasting the rolled edge and drawing up the thread; as, to whip a ruffle. In half-whipped muslin needles useless lie. Gay.

To take or move by a sudden motion; to jerk; to snatch; -- with into, out, up, off, and the like. She, in a hurry, whips up her darling under her arm. L'Estrange. He whips out his pocketbook every moment, and writes descriptions of everything he sees. Walpole.

To hoist or purchase by means of a whip.

To secure the end of (a rope, or the like) from untwisting by overcasting it with small stuff.

To fish (a body of water) with a rod and artificial fly, the motion being that employed in using a whip. Whipping their rough surface for a trout. Emerson. To whip in, to drive in, or keep from scattering, as hounds in a hurt; hence, to collect, or to keep together, as member of a party, or the like. -- To whip the cat. (a) To practice extreme parsimony. [Prov. Eng.] Forby. (b) To go from house to house working by the day, as itinerant tailors and carpenters do. [Prov. & U. S.]

To move nimbly; to start or turn suddenly and do something; to whisk; as, he whipped around the corner. With speed from thence he whipped. Sackville. Two friends, traveling, met a bear upon the way; the one whips up a tree, and the other throws himself flat upon the ground. L'Estrange.

An instrument or driving horses or other animals, or for correction, consisting usually of a lash attached to a handle, or of a handle and lash so combined as to form a flexible rod. "[A] whip's lash." Chaucer. In his right hand he holds a whip, with which he is supposed to drive the horses of the sun. Addison.

A coachman; a driver of a carriage; as, a good whip. Beaconsfield.

One of the arms or frames of a windmill, on which the sails are spread.

The length of the arm reckoned from the shaft.

A small tackle with a single rope, used to hoist light bodies.

The long pennant. See Pennant (a)

A huntsman who whips in the hounds; whipper-in.

A person (as a member of Parliament) appointed to enforce party discipline, and secure the attendance of the members of a Parliament party at any important session, especially when their votes are needed.

A call made upon members of a Parliament party to be in their places at a given time, as when a vote is to be taken. Whip and spur, with the utmost haste. -- Whip crane, or Whip purchase, a simple form of crane having a small drum from which the load is suspended, turned by pulling on a rope wound around larger drum on the same axle. -- Whip gin. See Gin block, under 5th Gin. -- Whip grafting. See under Grafting. -- Whip hand, the hand with which the whip is used; hence, advantage; mastery; as, to have or get the whip hand of a person. Dryden. -- Whip ray (Zoöl.), the European eagle ray. See under Ray. -- Whip roll (Weaving), a roll or bar, behind the reeds in a loom, on which the warp threads rest. -- Whip scorpion (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of arachnids belonging to Thelyphonus and allied genera. They somewhat resemble true scorpions, but have a long, slender bristle, or lashlike organ, at the end of the body, instead of a sting. -- Whip snake (Zoöl.), any one of various species of slender snakes. Specifically: (a) A bright green South American tree snake (Philodryas viridissimus) having a long and slender body. It is not venomous. Called also emerald whip snake. (b) The coachwhip snake.