Whip - Whisket

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Whip (?), v. i. To move nimbly; to start or turn suddenly and do something; to whisk; as, he whipped around the corner.
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With speed from thence he whipped. Sackville.
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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.
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Whip, n. [OE. whippe. See , v. t.]
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1. 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.
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In his right hand he holds a whip, with which he is supposed to drive the horses of the sun. Addison.
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2. A coachman; a driver of a carriage; as, a good whip. Beaconsfield.
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3. (Mach.) (a) One of the arms or frames of a windmill, on which the sails are spread. (b) The length of the arm reckoned from the shaft.
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4. (Naut.) (a) A small tackle with a single rope, used to hoist light bodies. (b) The long pennant. See (a)
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5. A huntsman who whips in the hounds; whipper-in.
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6. (Eng. Politics) (a) 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. (b) 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.
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7. A whipping motion; a thrashing about; as, the whip of a tense rope or wire which has suddenly parted; also, the quality of being whiplike or flexible; flexibility; suppleness, as of the shaft of a golf club.
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8. (Mech.) Any of various pieces that operate with a quick vibratory motion, as a spring in certain electrical devices for making a circuit, or a rocking certain piano actions.
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Coloq. Whip and spur , with the utmost haste. -- Coloq. Whip crane , or Coloq. 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. -- Coloq. Whip gin . See Gin block, under 5th . -- Coloq. Whip grafting . See under . -- Coloq. 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. -- Coloq. Whip ray (Zoöl.), the European eagle ray. See under . -- Coloq. Whip roll (Weaving), a roll or bar, behind the reeds in a loom, on which the warp threads rest. -- Coloq. 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. -- Coloq. 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.
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Whipcord (?), n. A kind of hard-twisted or braided cord, sometimes used for making whiplashes.
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Whipgraft (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whipgrafted; p. pr. & vb. n. Whipgrafting.] To graft by cutting the scion and stock in a certain manner. See Whip grafting, under .
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Whiplash (?), n. 1. The lash of a whip, -- usually made of thongs of leather, or of cords, braided or twisted.
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2. a sudden change of direction, resembling the motion of the tip of a whip when it is cracked.
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3. a stinging psychological effect reminiscent of being stung by a whip.
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4. a .
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Whiplash injury (?), n. an injury to the neck caused by the sudden motion of the head backward and forward, as occurs to the occupants of a vehicle hit from behind by another vehicle.
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Whipparee (?), n. (Zoöl.) (a) A large sting ray (Dasybatis Sayi, or Trygon Sayi) native of the Southern United States. It is destitute of large spines on the body and tail. (b) A large sting ray (Rhinoptera bonasus, or Rhinoptera quadriloba) of the Atlantic coast of the United States. Its snout appears to be four-lobed when viewed in front, whence it is also called cow-nosed ray.
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Whipper (?), n.
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1. One who whips; especially, an officer who inflicts the penalty of legal whipping.
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2. One who raises coal or merchandise with a tackle from a chip's hold. [Eng.]
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3. (Spinning) A kind of simple willow.
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Whipperin (?), n.
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1. A huntsman who keeps the hounds from wandering, and whips them in, if necessary, to the of chase.
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2. Hence, one who enforces the discipline of a party, and urges the attendance and support of the members on all necessary occasions.
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Whippersnapper (?), n. A diminutive, insignificant, or presumptuous person. [Colloq.] “Little whippersnappers like you.” T. Hughes.
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Whipping (?), a & n. from , v.
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Coloq. Whipping post , a post to which offenders are tied, to be legally whipped.
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Whippletree (?), n. [See , and cf. .]
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1. The pivoted or swinging bar to which the traces, or tugs, of a harness are fastened, and by which a carriage, a plow, or other implement or vehicle, is drawn; a whiffletree; a swingletree; a singletree. See .
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[People] cut their own whippletree in the woodlot. Emerson.
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2. (Bot.) The cornel tree. Chaucer.
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Whip-poor-will (?), n. (Zoöl.) An American bird (Antrostomus vociferus) allied to the nighthawk and goatsucker; -- so called in imitation of the peculiar notes which it utters in the evening. [Written also whippowil.]
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Whipsaw (?), n. 1. A saw for dividing timber lengthwise, usually set in a frame, and worked by two persons; also, a fret saw.
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2. A kind of narrow ripsaw, tapering from butt to point, with hook teeth and averaging from 5 to 71/2 feet in length, used by one or two men.
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Whipsaw, v. t. 1. To saw with the whipsaw.
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2. To defeat in, or cause to lose, two different bets at the same turn or in one play, as a player at faro who has made two bets at the same time, one that a card will lose and another that a different card will win; hence, to defeat in spite of every effort.
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3. to cause to suffer a setback or losses by subjecting to two forces at the same time or in rapid succession; as, consumers were whipsawed by both inflation and higher sales taxes.
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4. (Finance) to cause to suffer a series of losses in trading when buying and selling at the wrong times in a rapidly fluctuating market; -- especially used when an attempt is made, by selling short, to recover losses from a long purchase in a declining market, and the short sale also results in a loss when the market subsequently rises. Used mostly in the passive; as, to be whipsawed by exaggerated responses to a changing outlook.
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Whip-shaped (?), a. Shaped like the lash of a whip; long, slender, round, and tapering; as, a whip-shaped root or stem.
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Whipstaff (?), n. (Naut.) A bar attached to the tiller, for convenience in steering.
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Whipstalk (?), n. A whipstock.
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Whipster (?), n. [Whip + -ster.] A nimble little fellow; a whippersnapper.
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Every puny whipster gets my sword. Shak.
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Whipstick (?), n. Whip handle; whipstock.
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Whipstitch (?), n.
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1. A tailor; -- so called in contempt.
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2. Anything hastily put or stitched together; hence, a hasty composition. [R.] Dryden.
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3. (Agric.) The act or process of whipstitching.
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4. A small bit; esp., a small interval of time; an instant; a minute. [Dial. or Colloq.]
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Whipstitch, v. t. 1. (Agric.) To rafter; to plow in ridges, as land. [Eng.]
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2. To sew by passing the thread over and over; to overcast; whip.
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Whipstock (?), n. The rod or handle to which the lash of a whip is fastened.
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Whipt (?), imp. & p. p. of . Whipped.
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Whip-tom-kelly (?), n. [So called in imitation of its notes.] (Zoöl.) A vireo (Vireo altiloquus) native of the West Indies and Florida; -- called also black-whiskered vireo.
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Whipworm (?), n. [So called from its shape.] (Zoöl.) A nematode worm (Trichocephalus dispar) often found parasitic in the human intestine. Its body is thickened posteriorly, but is very long and threadlike anteriorly.
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Whir (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Whirred (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Whirring.] [Perhaps of imitative origin; cf. D. hvirre to whirl, and E. hurr, hurry, whirl. ���.] To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz.
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The partridge bursts away on whirring wings. Beattie.
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Whir, v. t. [See to whiz.] To hurry a long with a whizzing sound. [R.]
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This world to me is like a lasting storm,
Whirring me from my friends. Shak.
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Whir, n. A buzzing or whizzing sound produced by rapid or whirling motion; as, the whir of a partridge; the whir of a spinning wheel.
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Whirl (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whirled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Whirling.] [OE. whirlen, probably from the Scand.; cf. Icel. & Sw. hvirfla, Dan. hvirvle; akin to D. wervelen, G. wirbeln, freq. of the verb seen in Icel. hverfa to turn. √16. See , and cf. , .]
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1. To turn round rapidly; to cause to rotate with velocity; to make to revolve.
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He whirls his sword around without delay. Dryden.
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2. To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch; to harry. Chaucer.
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See, see the chariot, and those rushing wheels,
That whirled the prophet up at Chebar flood. Milton.
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The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly. Tennyson.
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Whirl, v. i.
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1. To be turned round rapidly; to move round with velocity; to revolve or rotate with great speed; to gyrate. “The whirling year vainly my dizzy eyes pursue.” J. H. Newman.
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The wooden engine flies and whirls about. Dryden.
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2. To move hastily or swiftly.
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But whirled away to shun his hateful sight. Dryden.
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Whirl, n. [Cf. Dan. hvirvel, Sw. hvirfvel, Icel. hvirfill the crown of the head, G. wirbel whirl, crown of the head, D. wervel. See , v. t.]
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1. A turning with rapidity or velocity; rapid rotation or circumvolution; quick gyration; rapid or confusing motion; as, the whirl of a top; the whirl of a wheel. “In no breathless whirl.” J. H. Newman.
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The rapid . . . whirl of things here below interrupt not the inviolable rest and calmness of the noble beings above. South.
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2. Anything that moves with a whirling motion.
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He saw Falmouth under gray, iron skies, and whirls of March dust. Carlyle.
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3. A revolving hook used in twisting, as the hooked spindle of a rope machine, to which the threads to be twisted are attached.
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4. (Bot. & Zoöl.) A whorl. See .
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Whirlabout (?), n. Something that whirls or turns about in a rapid manner; a whirligig.
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Whirlbat (?), n. Anything moved with a whirl, as preparatory for a blow, or to augment the force of it; -- applied by poets to the cestus of ancient boxers.
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The whirlbat and the rapid race shall be
Reserved for Cæsar. Dryden.
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Whirl-blast (?), n. A whirling blast or wind.
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A whirl-blast from behind the hill. Wordsworth.
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Whirlbone (?), n. (Anat.) (a) The huckle bone. [Obs.] (b) The patella, or kneepan. [Obs.] Ainsworth.
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Whirler (?), n. One who, or that which, whirls.
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Whirlicote (?), n. An open car or chariot. [Obs.]
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Of old time coaches were not known in this island, but chariots, or whirlicotes. Stow.
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Whirligig (?), n. [Whirl + gig.]
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1. A child's toy, spun or whirled around like a wheel upon an axis, or like a top. Johnson.
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2. Anything which whirls around, or in which persons or things are whirled about, as a frame with seats or wooden horses.
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With a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning about each head. G. W. Cable.
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3. A mediæval instrument for punishing petty offenders, being a kind of wooden cage turning on a pivot, in which the offender was whirled round with great velocity.
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4. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of beetles belonging to Gyrinus and allied genera. The body is firm, oval or boatlike in form, and usually dark colored with a bronzelike luster. These beetles live mostly on the surface of water, and move about with great celerity in a gyrating, or circular, manner, but they are also able to dive and swim rapidly. The larva is aquatic. Called also weaver, whirlwig, and whirlwig beetle.
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Whirling (?), a. & n. from , v. t.
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Coloq. Whirling table . (a) (Physics) An apparatus provided with one or more revolving disks, with weights, pulleys, and other attachments, for illustrating the phenomena and laws of centrifugal force, and the like. (b) A potter's wheel.
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Whirlpit (?), n. A whirlpool. [Obs.] “Raging whirlpits.” Sandys.
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Whirlpool (?), n.
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1. An eddy or vortex of water; a place in a body of water where the water moves round in a circle so as to produce a depression or cavity in the center, into which floating objects may be drawn; any body of water having a more or less circular motion caused by its flowing in an irregular channel, by the coming together of opposing currents, or the like.
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2. A sea monster of the whale kind. [Obs.] Spenser.
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The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are; among which the whales and whirlpools, called “balænæ,” take up in length as much as four . . . arpents of land. Holland.
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Whirlwig (?), n. [Cf. .] (Zoöl.) A whirligig.
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Whirlwind (?), n. [Cf. Icel. hvirfilvindr, Sw. hvirfvelvind, Dan. hvirvelvind, G. wirbelwind. See , and , n.]
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1. A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It usually has a rapid progressive motion.
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The swift dark whirlwind that uproots the woods.
And drowns the villages. Bryant.
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☞ Some meteorologists apply the word whirlwind to the larger rotary storm also, such as cyclones.
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2. Fig.: A body of objects sweeping violently onward. “The whirlwind of hounds and hunters.” Macaulay.
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Whirry (?), v. i. To whir. [Obs.]
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Whirtle (?), n. (Mech.) A perforated steel die through which wires or tubes are drawn to form them.
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Whisk (?), n. [See , n.] A game at cards; whist. [Obs.] Taylor (1630).
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Whisk, n. [Probably for wisk, and of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. visk a wisp; akin to Dan. visk, Sw. viska, D. wisch, OHG. wisc, G. wisch. See .]
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1. The act of whisking; a rapid, sweeping motion, as of something light; a sudden motion or quick puff.
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This first sad whisk
Takes off thy dukedom; thou art but an earl. J. Fletcher.
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2. A small bunch of grass, straw, twigs, hair, or the like, used for a brush; hence, a brush or small besom, as of broom corn.
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3. A small culinary instrument made of wire, or the like, for whisking or beating eggs, cream, etc. Boyle.
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4. A kind of cape, forming part of a woman's dress.
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My wife in her new lace whisk. Pepys.
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5. An impertinent fellow. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
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6. A plane used by coopers for evening chines.
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Whisk, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whisked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Whisking.] [Cf. Dan. viske, Sw. viska, G. wischen, D. wisschen. See , n.]
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1. To sweep, brush, or agitate, with a light, rapid motion; as, to whisk dust from a table; to whisk the white of eggs into a froth.
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2. To move with a quick, sweeping motion.
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He that walks in gray, whisking his riding rod. J. Fletcher.
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I beg she would not impale worms, nor whisk carp out of one element into another. Walpole.
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Whisk, v. i. To move nimbly at with velocity; to make a sudden agile movement.
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Whisker (?), n.
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1. One who, or that which, whisks, or moves with a quick, sweeping motion.
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2. Formerly, the hair of the upper lip; a mustache; -- usually in the plural.
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Hoary whiskers and a forky beard. Pope.
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3. pl. That part of the beard which grows upon the sides of the face, or upon the chin, or upon both; as, side whiskers; chin whiskers.
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4. A hair of the beard.
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5. One of the long, projecting hairs growing at the sides of the mouth of a cat, or other animal.
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6. pl. (Naut.) Iron rods extending on either side of the bowsprit, to spread, or guy out, the stays, etc.
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Whiskered (?), a.
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1. Formed into whiskers; furnished with whiskers; having or wearing whiskers.
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Our forefathers, a grave, whiskered race. Cowper.
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2. (Zoöl.) Having elongated hairs, feathers, or bristles on the cheeks.
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The whiskered vermin race. Grainger.
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Whiskerless (?), a. Being without whiskers.
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Whisket (?), n. [Cf. .]
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1. A basket; esp., a straw provender basket. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
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2. (Mach.) A small lathe for turning wooden pins.
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