whoop
English
Etymology 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 𐍅𐍉𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wōpjan, “to cry out”), 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”), see woop.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- enPR: wo͞op, hwo͞op, IPA(key): /wuːp/, /ʍuːp/ or enPR: ho͞op, IPA(key): /huːp/
- Rhymes: -uːp
- Homophone: hoop (for one pronunciation of the noun and the associated intransitive verb)
Noun
whoop (plural whoops)
- A loud, eager cry, usually of joy.
- 1983, The Fisherman Who Laughed, page 30:
- [A] great whoop of victory sounded as finally they carried the fish up the beach.
- A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough.
- A bump on a racetrack.
- Synonym of whoop-de-doo
- 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.
Translations
An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy
A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough
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Verb
whoop (third-person singular simple present whoops, present participle whooping, simple past and past participle whooped)
- (intransitive) To make a whoop.
- William Wordsworth
- each whooping with a merry shout
- W. Browne
- When naught was heard but now and then the howl / Of some vile cur, or whooping of the owl.
- William Wordsworth
- (transitive) To shout, to yell.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- 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.
- To cough or breathe with a sonorous inspiration, as in whooping cough.
- (transitive, obsolete) To insult with shouts; to chase with derision.
- William Shakespeare
- And suffered me by the voice of slaves to be / Whooped out of Rome.
- William Shakespeare
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:shout
Derived terms
Translations
to make a whoop
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to insult with shouts; to chase with derision
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Etymology 2
Corruption of whip.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Verb
whoop (third-person singular simple present whoops, present participle whooping, simple past and past participle whooped)
- (transitive, informal) To beat, to strike.
- (transitive, informal) To defeat thoroughly.
Derived terms
Translations
to beat, to strike
to defeat thoroughly
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See also
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/uːp
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English informal terms
- English heteronyms
- English onomatopoeias
- en:Animal sounds