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Webster 1913 Edition

Whisk

Whisk

,
Noun.
[See
Whist
,
Noun.
]
A game at cards; whist.
[Obs.]
Taylor (1630).

Whisk

,
Noun.
[Probably for
wisk
, and of Scand. origin; cf. Icel.
visk
a wisp; akin to Dan.
visk
, Sw.
viska
, D.
wisch
, OHG.
wisc
, G.
wisch
. See
Wisp
.]
1.
The act of whisking; a rapid, sweeping motion, as of something light; a sudden motion or quick puff.
This first sad
whisk

Takes off thy dukedom; thou art but an earl.
J. Fletcher.
2.
A small bunch of grass, straw, twigs, hair, or the like, used for a brush; hence, a brush or small besom, as of broom corn.
3.
A small culinary instrument made of wire, or the like, for whisking or beating eggs, cream, etc.
Boyle.
4.
A kind of cape, forming part of a woman’s dress.
My wife in her new lace
whisk
.
Pepys.
5.
An impertinent fellow.
[Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
6.
A plane used by coopers for evening chines.

Whisk

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Whisked
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Whisking
.]
[Cf. Dan.
viske
, Sw.
viska
, G.
wischen
, D.
wisschen
. See
Whisk
,
Noun.
]
1.
To sweep, brush, or agitate, with a light, rapid motion;
as, to
whisk
dust from a table; to
whisk
the white of eggs into a froth.
2.
To move with a quick, sweeping motion.
He that walks in gray,
whisking
his riding rod.
J. Fletcher.
I beg she would not impale worms, nor
whisk
carp out of one element into another.
Walpole.

Whisk

,
Verb.
I.
To move nimbly at with velocity; to make a sudden agile movement.

Webster 1828 Edition

Whisk

WHISK

,
Noun.
1.
A small bunch of grass, straw, hair or the like, used for a brush; hence, a brush or small besom.
2.
Part of a womans dress; a kind of tippet.

WHISK

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To sweep, brush or wipe with a whisk.
2.
To sweep along; to move nimbly over the ground.

WHISK

,
Verb.
I.
To move nimbly and with velocity.

Definition 2024

whisk

whisk

English

Kitchen whisks (sense 2)

Noun

whisk ‎(plural whisks)

  1. A quick, light sweeping motion.
    With a quick whisk, she swept the cat from the pantry with her broom.
  2. A kitchen utensil, made from stiff wire loops fixed to a handle, used for whipping (or a mechanical device with the same function).
    He used a whisk to whip up a light and airy souffle.
  3. A bunch of twigs or hair etc, used as a brush.
    Peter dipped the whisk in lather and applied it to his face, so he could start shaving.
  4. A small handheld broom with a small (or no) handle.
    I used a whisk to sweep the counter, then a push-broom for the floor.
  5. A plane used by coopers for evening chines.
  6. A kind of cape, forming part of a woman's dress.
    • Samuel Pepys
      My wife in her new lace whisk.
  7. (archaic) An impertinent fellow.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
Translations

Verb

whisk ‎(third-person singular simple present whisks, present participle whisking, simple past and past participle whisked)

  1. (transitive) To move something with quick light sweeping motions.
    • J. Fletcher
      He that walks in gray, whisking his riding rod.
    Vernon whisked the sawdust from his workbench.‎
  2. (transitive) In cooking, to whip e.g. eggs or cream.
    The chef prepared to whisk the egg whites for the angel's food cake.‎
  3. (transitive) To move something rapidly and with no warning.
    • Walpole
      I beg she would not impale worms, nor whisk carp out of one element into another.
    The governess whisked the children from the room before they could see their presents.‎
  4. (intransitive) To move lightly and nimbly.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
      The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.
    The children whisked down the road to the fair, laughing and chattering as they went.‎
Translations

References

  1. ↑ According to ODS eng. (vist laant fra nord.) whisk, the English (certainly borrowed from Old Norse) whisk
  2. ↑ Etymology in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary

Etymology 2

Noun

whisk ‎(uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) The card game whist.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Taylor (1630) to this entry?)

Etymology

Middle English [Term?], from Old Norse visk[1][2], from Proto-Germanic *wiskaz, *wiskō ‎(“bundle of hay, wisp”), from Proto-Indo-European *weys-.

Cognate with Danish visk, Dutch wis, German Wisch, Latin virga ‎(“rod, switch”), viscus ‎(“entrails”), Lithuanian vizgéti ‎(“to tremble”), Czech vechet ‎(“wisp of straw”), Sanskrit वेष्क ‎(veṣka, “noose”). Compare also Old English wiscian ‎(“to plait”), granwisc ‎(“awn”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /(h)wɪsk/
  • Rhymes: -ɪsk

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