whoop

Meanings

1. A loud, eager cry, usually of joy.
2. A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough.
3. A bump on a racetrack.

1. To make a whoop.
2. To shout, to yell.
3. To cough or breathe with a sonorous inspiration, as in whooping cough.
4. To insult with shouts; to chase with derision.

1. To beat, to strike.
2. To defeat thoroughly.

Etymology

From Middle English whopen, whowpen, howpen, houpen (“to whoop, cry out”), partially from Old French houper, hopper, houpper (“to shout”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwōpan, from Proto-Germanic *hwōpaną (“to boast, threaten”) (compare 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”), from Proto-West Germanic *wōp, from Proto-Germanic *wōpaz (“shout, cry, wail”) (compare Old Norse ópa (“to cry, scream, shout”), Gothic 𐍅𐍉𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wōpjan, “to cry out”)).