/wuːp/, /ʍuːp/, /wʊp/
OriginFrom Middle English whopen, whowpen, howpen, houpen (“to whoop, cry out”), partially from Old French houper, hopper, houpper (“to shout”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwōpan, from Proto-Germanic *hwōpaną (“to boast, threaten”) (compare Gothic 𐍈𐍉𐍀𐌰𐌽 (ƕōpan, “to boast”), Old English hwōpan (“to threaten”)); and partially from Middle English wop (“weeping, lamentation”), from Old English wōp (“cry, outcry, shrieking, weeping, lamentation”), from Proto-West Germanic *wōp, from Proto-Germanic *wōpaz (“shout, cry, wail”) (compare Old Norse ópa (“to cry, scream, shout”), Gothic 𐍅𐍉𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wōpjan, “to cry out”)).
- A loud, eager cry, usually of joy.
“Mixed with the whoop of the crane and the roar of the grim alligator.”
“[A] great whoop of victory sounded as finally they carried the fish up the beach.”
“Lavender Hearts has often been stopped by the presence of some wild woman who just can't contain her whoop or moan. Now that's community!”
- A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough.
- A bump on a racetrack.
“The key to jamming through the whoops is to keep your weight to the back of the quad […] and keep the front wheels high […]”
“The “98 MPH” sign used to be on a set of particularly vicious whoops at one of John's favorite racetracks.”
- intransitiveTo make a whoop.
“each whooping with a merry shout”
“When naught was heard but now and then the howl / Of some vile cur, or whooping of the owl.”
- transitiveTo shout, to yell.
“I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth ”
- To cough or breathe with a sonorous inspiration, as in whooping cough.
- obsolete, transitiveTo insult with shouts; to chase with derision.
“And suffered me by the voice of slaves to be / Whooped out of Rome.”
- informal, transitiveTo beat, to strike.
- informal, transitiveTo defeat thoroughly.
Formswhoops(plural) · hoop(alternative) · howp(alternative) · whoops(present, singular, third-person) · whooping(participle, present) · whooped(participle, past) · whooped(past) · whup(alternative)