whip

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 [C] a long thin piece of rope or leather, attached to a handle, used for making animals move or punishing people: He cracked his whip and the horse leapt forward. 2 [C] (in Britain and the US) an official in a political party who is responsible for making sure that party members attend and vote in important government debates: the chief whip 3 [C] (in Britain and the US) a written instruction telling members of a political party how to vote on a particular issue seealsoTHREE-LINEWHIP 4 [U,C] a sweet dish made from cream, eggs, sugar and fruit mixed together IDIOMS have / hold, etc. the whip hand (over sb/sth) to be in a position where you have power or control over sb/sth: She had the whip hand and it was useless to resist. moreatFAIRadj. verb (-pp-) 1 [VN] to hit a person or an animal hard with a whip, as a punishment or to make them go faster or work harder 2 to move, or make sth move, quickly and suddenly or violently in a particular direction: [V, +adv./prep.] A branch whipped across the car window. * Her hair whipped around her face in the wind. * [VN] The waves were being whipped by 50 mile an hour winds. 3 [VN+adv./prep.] to remove or pull sth quickly and suddenly: She whipped the mask off her face. * The man whipped out a knife. 4 [VN] ~ sth (up) to stir cream, etc. very quickly until it becomes stiff: Serve the pie with whipped cream. * Whip the egg whites up into stiff peaks. 5 [VN] (BrE, informal) to steal sth PHRASALVERBS whip through sth (informal) to do or finish sth very quickly: We whipped through customs in ten minutes. whip sb/sth<->up 1 to deliberately try and make people excited or feel strongly about sth SYNROUSE: The advertisements were designed to whip up public opinion. * He was a speaker who could really whip up a crowd. 2 to quickly make a meal or sth to eat: She whipped up a delicious lunch for us in 15 minutes.