whisk
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Three typical whisks (sense 2): one French whisk and two balloon whisks. 
A gravy whisk.
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Middle English , from Old Norse visk, 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”).
The unetymological wh- is probably expressive of the sound; compare the same development in whip and onomatopoeias such as whack and whoosh.
Noun
whisk (plural whisks)
- A quick, light sweeping motion.
- With a quick whisk, she swept the cat from the pantry with her broom.
- A kitchen utensil, now usually made from stiff wire loops fixed to a handle (and formerly of twigs), used for whipping (or a mechanical device with the same function).
- He used a whisk to whip up a light and airy souffle.
- 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.
- 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.
- A plane used by coopers for evening chines.
- A kind of cape, forming part of a woman's dress.
- 1665 March 22 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “March 12th, 1664–1665 (Lord’s Day)”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys , volume IV, London: George Bell & Sons ; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1894, →OCLC:
- My wife in her new lace whiske.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
quick, light sweeping motion
kitchen utensil — see also egg whisk
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bunch of twigs or hair etc, used as a brush
small handheld broom with a small (or no) handle
Verb
whisk (third-person singular simple present whisks, present participle whisking, simple past and past participle whisked)
- (transitive) To move something with quick light sweeping motions.
- 1626 February 13 (licensing date), Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Noble Gentleman”, in Comedies and Tragedies , London: Humphrey Robinson, , and for Humphrey Moseley , published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- He that walks in gray, whisking his riding Page.
- 1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 40:
- She held out her empty glass and it was adroitly whisked from her hand.
- Vernon whisked the sawdust from his workbench.
- (transitive) In cooking, to whip e.g. eggs or cream.
- 2012 May 8, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Random House, →ISBN, page 79:
- First, marinate the tofu. In a bowl, whisk the kecap manis, chilli sauce, and sesame oil together. Cut the tofu into strips about 1cm thick, mix gently (so it doesn't break) with the marinade and leave in the fridge for half an hour.
- The chef prepared to whisk the egg whites for the angel's food cake.
- (transitive) To move something rapidly and with no warning.
- July 3, 1769, Horace Walpole, letter to the Earl of Strafford
- 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.
- July 3, 1769, Horace Walpole, letter to the Earl of Strafford
- (intransitive) To move lightly and nimbly.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- 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.
- (transitive) To move whiskers.
Derived terms
Translations
to move something with quick light sweeping motions
in cooking, to whip e.g. eggs or cream
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to move something rapidly and with no warning
to move lightly and nimbly
References
- ^ According to ODS eng. (vist laant fra nord.) whisk, the English (certainly borrowed from Old Norse) whisk
- ^ Etymology in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
Etymology 2
So called from the rapid action of sweeping the cards off the table after a trick has been won.
Noun
whisk (uncountable)
- (obsolete) The card game whist.
- 1621, John Taylor, Taylor's Motto:
- Trump, noddy, whisk, hole […]
Nottoway
Numeral
whisk
References
- Blair A. Rudes (1981) “A sketch of the Nottoway language from a historical-comparative perspective”, in International Journal of American Linguistics, volume 47, number 1, page 47