Added 9 October 2026
whip
/ˈwɪp/ noun
In Latin: flagrum, lōrum, scutica Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about whip at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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A lash; a pliant, flexible instrument, such as a rod (commonly of cane or rattan) or a plaited or braided rope or thong (commonly of leather) used to create a sharp "crack" sound for directing or herding animals.
I had to use the whip to get the sheep's attention.
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The same instrument used to strike a person or animal for corporal punishment or torture.
Once he ran out of appeals, he knew he would soon feel the sting of the whip.
- A blow administered with a whip.
verb
Origin
From Middle English whippen, wippen (“to flap violently”), from Middle Dutch wippen (“to swing, leap, dance, oscillate”) and Middle Low German wippen (“to move quickly”), from Proto-Germanic *wippōną (“to move back and forth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to shake; to swing”). (See Swedish vippa and Danish vippe (“to shake”)). The unetymological wh- is probably expressive of the sound of a whip; compare the same development in whisk and onomatopoeias such as whack and whoosh. The political senses are from whipper-in (“huntsman who keeps the hounds from wandering”), from 18th-century hunting terminology.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)