Forms: 4–6 wippe, quippe, 4–7 whippe, 5–6 wyppe, whyppe, whyp, Sc. quhippe, (4 quyppe, 5 whhipp, Sc. qwype, quhipe, 6 Sc. quhyp, quhipp, whupe), 5–7 Sc. quhip, 6–7 whipp, (9 Sc. whup), 5– whip. [Partly f. WHIP v., q.v.; partly a. (M)LG. wippe, wip quick movement, leap, moment of time, lift for raising a well-bucket or hoisting cargo, lever, = Du. wip see-saw, strappado, swipe, skip (in een wip in an instant, met een wip at one sweep), OHG. wipph (MHG. wipf, wif) quick movement. Fris. wip, wipp, in some of these senses, also = mousetrap, Sw. vipp pump-gear, early Da. vip, vippe, also hvip leap, skip, short distance, moment, swipe, flap, lappet, Da. vippe swipe, G. wippe see-saw, crane, swipe, windlass, pliable pole, etc., are from LG. (Early Flem. wippe whip, in Kilian, is dubious.)]
I. The instrument of flagellation, and connected senses.
1. An instrument for flogging or beating, consisting either of a rigid rod or stick with a lash of cord, leather, etc., attached, or of a flexible switch with or without a lash, used for driving horses, chastising human beings, and other purposes.
c. 1325. Gloss. W. de Bibbesw., in Wright, Voc., 154. Ses chivaus deyt le charetter De sa fowette [gloss a quippe] ou de sa ryote gyer [gloss haling-wippe].
c. 1340. Nominale (Skeat), 886. Chareter ad sa reorte, Carter hathe his wippe.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sec. Nun’s T., 406. For which Almachius dide hym so bete With whippe of leed, til he the lif gan lete.
c. 1450. Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.), 315. Bynde hym to a pelere,… Than skorge hym with qwyppys.
1535. Coverdale, Prov. xxvi. 3. Vnto the horse belongeth a whyppe, to the Asse a brydle, and a rodde to the fooles backe.
1567. Aldeburgh Rec., in N. & Q., 12th Ser. VII. 142/2. Pd to Sponer for his attendans at ye churche wth ye whyppe … xd.
1597. in J. Melvill’s Autob. & Diary (Wodrow Soc.), 432. Into thy youthe, rejose to tholl the whupe.
1651. Maldon, Essex, Burgh Deeds, Bundle 82 No. 2 (MS.). xiid. paid Samuell Sturgeon for punishing of three persons by the whipp.
1735. Somerville, Chase, II. 112. The clust’ring Pack … hear with respect thy Whip Loud-clanging.
1807. Southey, Espriella’s Lett., II. 48. The coachman smacked his whip.
1868. F. E. Paget, Lucretia, 173. Flick, flick, flick, went the whip.
b. In fig. or allusive use: cf. SCOURGE sb. 2, 3.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Merch. T., 427. She may be youre purgatorie She may be goddes meene and goddes whippe.
1406. Hoccleve, La Male Regle, 118. Seeknesse, y meene, riotoures whippe.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 234. This act established chiefly sixe articles, wherof … of some it was named the whip with sixe strynges.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., III. i. 176. And I forsooth in loue, I that haue beene loues whip!
1625. Dekker, Rod for Run-awayes, Wks. (Grosart), IV. 278. Iehouah, when he is angry, holds three Whips … the Sword, Pestilence, and famine.
1647. (title) A Fresh Whip for all scandalous Lyers.
1700. Rowe, Amb. Step-Mother, III. iii. Revenge shall … with her Iron whips Lash forth this lazy Ague from my Blood.
1817. D’Israeli, Cur. Lit., III. 312. Fanatics, who had … smarted under the satirical whips of the Dramatists.
1881. J. P. Sheldon, Dairy Farming, 177/3. Artificial manures act as ‘whips’ or stimulants.
c. transf. The occupation or art of driving horses; coachmanship.
1792. Holcroft, Road to Ruin, II. 25. You may challenge the whole fraternity of the whip to match you.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., xxii. The coachman of the Marquis,… observing the rival charioteer was mending his pace, resolved, like a true brother of the whip,… to vindicate his right of precedence.
1837. Apperley, Chase, Turf, Road (1843), 107. The taste for the whip has undoubtedly declined.
d. Phrases. † To drink or lick (up)on the whip: to have a ‘taste’ of the whip, to get a flogging, † A whip and a bell: something that detracts from one’s comfort or pleasure (in allusion to the ancient Roman custom of attaching a whip and a bell to the chariot of a triumphing general, to drive away evil). Whip and spur (advb., usually with ride): using both the whip and the spur to urge the horse on; at one’s utmost speed, at a furious pace: cf. SPUR sb.1 2 a. Whip behind!, a cry to the driver of a horse vehicle calling his attention to the presence of some one riding on the back of the vehicle without his knowledge.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., iii. 378. For youre long taryyng Ye shal lik on the whyp.
1576. Gascoigne, Steele Glas, 688. He shal be sure, to drinke upon the whippe.
1644. Cleveland, Char. Lond. Diurn., 4. In all this Triumph there is a whip and a Bell.
1681. T. Flatman, Heraclitus Ridens, No. 19 (1713), I. 127. Care and the compleat Character-Man are riding Whip and Spur who shall have the next Vacancy in Bedlam.
1684. Otway, Atheist, I. i. To get rid of that Whip and a Bell, call’d thy Wife.
1739. Derby Mercury, 12 July, 1/1. Mounting the Horse with Whip and Spur he drives through the Grass-Market, and out at the West Port, and they never saw him more.
1742. Pope, Dunc., IV. 197. Each fierce Logician … Came whip and spur, and dash’d thro’ thin and thick.
1814. Scott, Wav., lxvi. I rode whip and spur to fetch the Chevalier.
1835. Carrick, etc., Laird of Logan (1841), 307. Some wandeidy weans cried ‘whip behind! whip behind!’
2. An object resembling a whip: a slender flexible branch of a plant; a twig, sprig, switch; a collection or growth of such branches.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 146/1. Flagellum,… the whip or smal toptwig of the vine.
1881. E. Ingersoll, Oyster-Industry, 250. Whips.—Slender branches used to mark the bounds of oyster-beds. (Connecticut.)
1908. S. E. White, Riverman, xv. What, in the early year, had been merely a whip of brush, now had become a screen.
3. A blow or stroke with, or as with, a whip; a lash, stripe; pl. a fogging. Now only Sc.
c. 1435. Wyntoun, Cron., III. ii. 294. Wiþe a cheik bane of ane as,… He let about hym qwype for qwype.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph. (Arb.), 145. He wyll gyue hym a whip.
1567. Satir. Poems Reform., v. 38. It war weill wairit he gat his quhippis.
1602. Shaks., Ham., III. i. 70. For who would beare the Whips and Scornes of time?
1879. G. Macdonald, Sir Gibbie, xxi. He’s a coorse cratur, an’ maun hae’s whups.
b. fig. An attack, access (of illness or calamity). Sc. (Cf. WHIFF sb.1 1 c.)
1891. ‘H. Haliburton,’ Ochil Idylls, 89.
| Ye chose me—at a whip o’ dearth— | |
| To represent ye. |
1894. ‘Ian Maclaren,’ Bonnie Brier Bush, Lachlan Campbell, iii. If a body lies a bit whup o’ illness.
c. pl. Abundance, ‘lots.’ dial. (Cf. LASHING vbl. sb.1 b.)
1904. Blackw. Mag., April, 558/2. I must have lost ‘whips’ of blood.
4. One who wields a driving-whip; a driver of horses, a coachman. (Usually with descriptive adj. or phr. expressing skill or style.)
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, I. i. None of the London whips of any degree of ton wear wigs now.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., xiii. You’re a wery good whip, and can do what you like with your horses.
1855. Smedley, H. Coverdale, v. The old boy is nothing of a whip.
1884. Earl Malmesbury, Mem., I. 16. He … drove four-in-hand better than any whip between Windsor and London.
5. Hunting. = WHIPPER-IN 1.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xlv. The two whips … possessing marvellous dexterity in casting the points of their long heavy whips at the thinnest part of any dog’s skin who dares to straggle.
1860. Ld. W. Lennox, Pict. Sporting Life, I. 197. Gentlemen, I have been with you thirty-two years—one year as second whip, five as first whip, and twenty-six as huntsman.
6. A member of a particular party in Parliament whose duty it is to secure the attendance of members of that party on the occasion of an important division. Originally called whipper-in (WUPPER-IN 2).
There are now four government whips, who receive salaries paid out of public money; the chief of them is Parliamentary Secretary (or Patronage Secretary) to the Treasury, the other three are Junior Lords of the Treasury.
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., lviii. The Whip for his party hands it about … to keep men together who want to be off.
1855. Ld. Lonsdale, in Croker Papers (1884), III. 323. There never was a division where the calculators and whips were more out of their reckoning.
1884. D. Anderson, ‘Scenes’ in the Commons, 214. Mr. Sheil, a Parnellite Whip.
1888. Bryce, Amer. Commw., I. xiv. 198. There is neither Government nor Opposition; neither leaders nor whips.
7. a. The action of ‘whipping up’ the members of a party for a Parliamentary division, or any body of persons for some united action.
1828. Ld. Ellenborough, Diary (1881), I. 42. I hear Planta did not send out the notes for the division to-night till yesterday evening, so that there was a general idea it was not to be made a Government question…. On the other side there is a perfect whip.
1832. Ld. Lyttelton, in Corr. Sarah Lady L. (1912), 271. The latter was shut out, consequently there would have been 152. There must have been a great Whip.
1862. Stanhope, Pitt, IV. 157. An anxious whip was made by both parties.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 8 Oct., 2/2. As a demonstration of Parnellism … it was mainly drawn from Dublin. The whip-up from the country was even less successful than formerly.
b. A call or appeal to a number of persons for contributions to a sum or fund; now esp. whip-round (for some object of charity).
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., iv. If they would stand a whip of ten shillings a man, they might have a new boat.
1865. Slang Dict., Whip, after the usual allowance of wine is drunk at mess, those who wish for more put a shilling each into a glass handed round to procure a further supply.
1874. Jefferies, Toilers of the Field (1892), 26. Wine ‘whips’ are formed, and the sherry circulates freely.
1888. Daily News, 27 Dec., 3/7. The men have expressed their gratitude for this thoughtfulness on their behalf in the tangible form of a ‘whip round’ in their own circle for the Robin Dinner Fund for poor children in London.
c. The written appeal or circular letter issued by a Parliament ‘whip’ to summon the members of his party.
1879. T. H. S. Escott, England, II. 149. Having issued the whip, the great thing for the whip himself is to see that members do not slip through his fingers.
1884. Bristol Mercury, 18 Feb., 8/2. The following five-lined whip, headed ‘Most important,’ has been issued to members of the Opposition.
8. A preparation of whipped cream, eggs, or the like.
1756. World, No. 201, ¶ 3. If he will not be satisfied with whips and creams, he may carry his voraciousness to more liberal tables.
1813. Sk. Char. (ed. 2), I. 86. There’s cold meat for the men, soups for the married ladies, and puffs and whips for the girls.
1883. Amer. Dishes, 157. Chocolate Whips.
9. (associated or identified with sense 3.) A movement as of a whip or switch; a lashing motion; spec. a slight bending movement produced by sudden strain, as in a piece of mechanism, or in the barrel of a gun when fired.
1889. Mrs. E. Kennard, Landing a Prize, xv. (1891), 113. Harry gave one backward whip of the [fishing-]rod.
1898. Jrnl. R. U. S. Instit., Oct., 1140. The whip of the barrel when fired.
1907. Westm. Gaz., 5 Dec., 4/2. The … frame [of a motor-car] is deepened in the centre to prevent whip.
II. A movement, and connected senses.
† 10. A sudden, brisk or hasty movement; a start; occas. a sudden gust. Obs. (Cf. WHIP int.)
† With a whip Sir John: ‘before you can say Jack Robinson.’
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., I. iii. (Arb.), 20. No haste but good, Madge Mumblecrust, for whip and whurre The olde prouerbe doth say, neuer made good furre.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 94. The hare at pinche turnth from him at a whip.
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 259. This man … wanischit away as he had bene … ane quhipe of the whirle wind.
1583. H. Howard, Defensative, E 4 b. The sodaine whippes of the wheele of fortune.
1631. Mabbe, Celestina, III. 39. With a whip—Sir Iohn, e’r you could scarce say this, shee was heere againe.
b. Fencing. A thrust in which the blade slides along the adversary’s blade.
1771. Lonnergan, Fencer’s Guide, 86.
11. The brief time taken by a sudden movement; a moment, instant. Obs. exc. Sc.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 4577. Thre wawes … Þe whilk in to rede blode þan War turned with’in a whhipp.
1808. Jamieson, s.v., In a whip, in a moment.
1836. M. Mackintosh, Cottager’s Dau., 65. Syne in a whip she let him in.
III. Something moved briskly.
† 12. A ‘spring trap’ for catching vermin, etc.
1590. M[ascall], Bk. Fishing, etc., 63. The whippe or spring trappe. This Engine, is called the whip or spring. Ibid., 85. A whippe spring, made … to take Buzardes and Kites.
† 13. Naut. A handle attached to the tiller, formerly used in small ships: = WHIPSTAFF 2. Obs.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Barre, La barre du timon, the whip of the Rudder (of a ship). Ibid., Molinet,… the roll wherein the whip of a Rudders tiller goes.
a. 1625. Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301). The Whippe is that staff which the Steeres-man dooth houlde in his hand, whereby he gouernes the helme….. In greate shipps they are not vsed.
14. Each of the arms or radii carrying the sails in a windmill.
1759. Smeaton, in Phil. Trans., LI. 149, note. The extreme bar is 1-3d of the radius (or whip, as it is called by the workmen), and is divided by the whip in the proportion of 3 to 5.
1888. Encycl. Brit., XXIV. 599/1. In all the older windmills a shaft … carried four to six arms or whips on which long rectangular narrow sails were spread.
15. A simple kind of tackle or pulley, consisting of a single block with a rope rove through it (single whip); used on board ship, and in mining, etc., for hoisting, esp. light objects.
A double whip, whip on whip, or whip and runner consists of a standing block and a running block, the ‘fall’ or rope of the former being attached to the latter. Whip and derry = WHIPSY-DERRY.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine, Whip, sort of small tackle,… generally used to hoist up light bodies, as empty casks, &c. out of a ship’s hold, which is accordingly called whipping them up.
1778. Pryce, Min. Cornub., 179. In this winding by the whip, a strict attention should be paid to the filling the kibbals to the brim.
1834. Marryat, Peter Simple, xxviii. He … made a whip, and lowered me on deck.
1846. A. Young, Naut. Dict., 367. Whip-upon-whip, or a double Whip, is one whip applied to the fall of another.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Whip and Derry, an arrangement for raising the kibble, by means of a rope merely passing over a pulley and attached to a horse.
1904. Fitchett, Commander of ‘Hirondelle,’ xvii. 191. A whip was being rigged from the mainyard to hoist in the wounded.
b. (See quot.)
1808. Jamieson, Wheeps, the name given to the instrument used for raising, what are called the bridgeheads of a mill.
IV. 16. Needlework. A stitch of the kind described s.v. WHIP v. 18; an overcast stitch; the projecting portion of the stuff between such stitches.
1592. Greene, Greene’s Vision, Wks. (Grosart), XII. 226. A Stomacher of Tuft Mockado, and a Partlet cast ouer with a prittie whippe.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Whip,… a round sort of a Stitch in Sowing.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, 519. Take up every Whip, or portion of the roll, between the stitches.
17. Weaving. (See quots.)
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 415. In the weaving of ribands and other ornamental works, many extraneous substances, totally unconnected with the warp or weft, are thrown in…. These substances are merely held in the fabric by the intersection of … the warp and the weft, and are by the weavers denominated whips.
1863. J. Watson, Weaving, vi. 206. Whip is the name given to that kind of yarn which is used for making the figures in lappet weaving, and it is made by twisting together so many ends of common yarn.
V. † 18. A bandage. Sc. Obs.
1504. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., II. 465. For claith to be wippes to Johne Balfouris sair leg. Ibid. (1507), IV. 15. For iiij elne Holland clath quhilk wes wippes to the Kingis arm that wes hurt.
† 19. A wreath, garland. Sc. Obs.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, XI. iii. 19. Thar hedis dycht In wyppis of the holy herb vervane.
