whip

1 noun

1 (C) a long thin piece of rope or leather with a handle used for making animals move or punishing people: crack a whip (=make a loud noise with a whip)

2 (C) a member of the US Congress or the British Parliament who is responsible for making sure that the members of their party attend and vote

—see also: Chief Whip

3 (C) a written order sent to members of the US Congress or the British Parliament telling them when and how to vote

—see also: two­line whip, three­line whip

4 chocolate whip/strawberry whip etc (C, U) BrE a sweet dish made from the white part of eggs and chocolate or fruit, beaten together to make a smooth, light mixture

—see also: crack of the whip crack 1 (20), give sb a fair crack of the whip fair 1 (11) 2 whipped, whipping verb

1 (T) to hit someone with a whip

2 (intransitive always + adv/prep) (transitive always + adv/prep) to move quickly and violently, or to make something do this

(+ across/around/past etc): The wind whipped across the plain. | whip sth about/around: The branches were being whipped about in the storm. | whip around/round (=turn around quickly): Suddenly, he whipped around and glared at them.

3 (transitive always + adv/prep) to move or remove something with a quick sudden movement

(+ away/off/out etc): He whipped out a gun.

4 (T) also whip up to mix cream or the clear part of an egg very hard until it becomes stiff

—see also: whisk 1, beat 1 (7)

5 have the whip hand to have power and control over someone

6 (T) to make a top 1 (25) spin by using a piece of string fixed to a stick

7 (T) BrE informal to steal something

whip through sth phrasal verb (T) informal especially BrE to finish a job very quickly: I can whip through all the cleaning in about half an hour. whip up phrasal verb (T)

1 whip up support/anger/enthusiasm etc to deliberately try to make people feel or react strongly: The rally was organised to whip up support for the independence campaign. | whip up a crowd: a speech designed to whip up the crowd

2 (whip something up) to quickly make something to eat: I just had time to whip up a light salad before I went out again.