Learning / English Dictionary

WHISK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small short-handled broom used to brush clothes

Synonyms:

whisk; whisk broom

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("whisk" is a kind of...):

broom (a cleaning implement for sweeping; bundle of straws or twigs attached to a long handle)

Derivation:

whisk (brush or wipe off lightly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A mixer incorporating a coil of wires; used for whipping eggs or cream

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("whisk" is a kind of...):

mixer (a kitchen utensil that is used for mixing foods)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Whip with or as if with a wire whisk

Example:

whisk the eggs

Synonyms:

whip; whisk

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "whisk" is one way to...):

beat; scramble (stir vigorously)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Brush or wipe off lightly

Synonyms:

whisk; whisk off

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "whisk" is one way to...):

pass over; wipe (rub with a circular motion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

whisk (a small short-handled broom used to brush clothes)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move somewhere quickly

Example:

The President was whisked away in his limo

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "whisk" is one way to...):

bring; convey; take (take something or somebody with oneself somewhere)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move quickly and nimbly

Example:

He whisked into the house

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "whisk" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

Thorpe only lashed his horse into a brisker trot; the Tilneys, who had soon ceased to look after her, were in a moment out of sight round the corner of Laura Place, and in another moment she was herself whisked into the marketplace.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Not that she was incommoded by many fears of Sir Thomas's disapprobation when the present state of his house should be known, for her judgment had been so blinded that, except by the instinctive caution with which she had whisked away Mr. Rushworth's pink satin cloak as her brother-in-law entered, she could hardly be said to shew any sign of alarm; but she was vexed by the manner of his return.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Once a dark, clumsy tapir stared at us from a gap in the bushes, and then lumbered away through the forest; once, too, the yellow, sinuous form of a great puma whisked amid the brushwood, and its green, baleful eyes glared hatred at us over its tawny shoulder.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Go and eat your dinner, you'll feel better after it. Men always croak when they are hungry," and Jo whisked out at the front door after that.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

There was a whisk of feminine skirts down the passage, and the hall door was opened and shut.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We saw it whisk past the light thrown from over the door and disappear against the black shadow of the house.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The light at the top was suddenly whisked out, and from the darkness came a reedy, quivering voice. “I have a pistol,” it cried.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The sun shone bright and the birds sang sweetly, and Dorothy did not feel nearly so bad as you might think a little girl would who had been suddenly whisked away from her own country and set down in the midst of a strange land.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Then an instant later a second shout broke forth, beginning from the other side of the arena, and the faces which had been turned towards us whisked round, so that in a twinkling the whole foreground changed from white to dark.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You see, said he, whisking round, and showing one little strip where a line of scattered hairs, like the last survivors in some fatal field, still barely held their own against the fate which had fallen upon their comrades; these locks need some little oiling and curling, for I doubt not that if you look slantwise at my head, when the light is good, you will yourself perceive that there are places where the hair is sparse.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)