• Whoop

    Pronunciation

    • enPR: woÍžop, IPA: /wuːp/ or enPR: hoÍžop, IPA: /huːp/
    • Rhymes: -uːp
    • Homophones: hoop (for one pronunciation of the noun and the associated intransitive verb)

    Origin 1

    From Middle English whopen, whowpen, howpen, houpen ("to whoop, cry out"), partially from Old French houper, hopper, houpper ("to shout"), of uncertain origin (compare Old Norse ópa ("to cry, scream, shout"), Gothic (wōpjan, "to crow as a cock"), Gothic (hwōpjan, "to boast"), Old English hwōpan ("to threaten")); and partially from Middle English wop ("weeping, lamentation"), from Old English wōp ("cry, outcry, shrieking, weeping, lamentation"), see woop.

    Alternative forms

    Full definition of whoop

    Noun

    whoop

    (plural whoops)
    1. An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy.
    2. A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough.
    3. A bump on a racetrack.
      • 2006, Steve Casper, ATVs: Everything You Need to Know (page 104)The key to jamming through the whoops is to keep your weight to the back of the quad ... and keep the front wheels high ...
      • 2009, Lee Klancher, Kevin Cameron, Motorcycle Dream Garages (page 184)The “98 MPH” sign used to be on a set of particularly vicious whoops at one of John's favorite racetracks.
    4. A bird, the hoopoe.

    Verb

    1. (intransitive) To make a whoop.
      • William Wordswortheach whooping with a merry shout
      • W. BrowneWhen naught was heard but now and then the howl
        Of some vile cur, or whooping of the owl.
    2. (transitive) To shout, to yell.
      • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 7, 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 and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
    3. To cough or breathe with a sonorous inspiration, as in whooping cough.
    4. (transitive, obsolete) To insult with shouts; to chase with derision.

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Pronunciation

    • enPR: wo͝op, IPA: /wÊŠp/

    Origin 2

    Corruption of whip.

    Alternative forms

    Verb

    1. (transitive, informal) To beat, to strike.
    2. (transitive, informal) To defeat thoroughly.
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