whip

noun

• 1a strip of leather or length of cord fastened to a handle, used for flogging or beating a person or for urging on an animal.
• used to refer to something causing pain or acting as a stimulus to action:councils are attempting to find new sites under the whip of a powerful agency

• 2a thing or person resembling a whip in form or function:a licorice whip
• a utensil such as a whisk or an eggbeater for beating cream, eggs, or other food.
• a slender, unbranched shoot or plant.
• short for whipper-in.
• short for whip antenna.
• [with modifier] North American a scythe for cutting specified crops:a grass whip
• a rope-and-pulley hoisting apparatus.

• 3an official of a political party appointed to maintain discipline among its members in Congress or Parliament, especially so as to ensure attendance and voting in debates.
• British a written notice from a political party official requesting attendance for voting.
• (the whip) British party membership of a Member of Parliament or other elected body:he asked for the whip to be withdrawn from them

• 4a dessert consisting of cream or eggs beaten into a light fluffy mass with fruit, chocolate, or other ingredients.

• 5 [in singular] a violent striking or beating movement.
• [in singular] in metaphorical use referring to something that acts as a stimulus to work or action:the governor cracked the whip in the city

verb (whips, whipping, whipped)

• 1beat (a person or animal) with a whip or similar instrument, especially as a punishment or to urge them on.
• (of a flexible object or rain or wind) strike or beat violently:the wind whipped their faces [no object]:ferns and brambles whipped at him
• beat (cream, eggs, or other food) into a froth.
• informal (of a player or team) defeat (a person or team) heavily in a sporting contest.

• 2 [no object] move fast or suddenly in a specified direction:I whipped around the corner
• [with object] take out or move (something) fast or suddenly:he whipped out his revolver and shot him

• 3bind (something) with spirally wound twine.
• sew or gather (something) with overcast stitches.