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whip up

B1 informal separable transitive
In simple words

To make food fast, or to make people feel very excited or angry very quickly.

Literal meaning: To beat or mix ingredients upward rapidly, as one does with a whisk.

Meanings

1 B1 idiomatic informal

To prepare food or a dish quickly.

"She whipped up a batch of pancakes before the children woke up."

Grammar: separable
2 B2 idiomatic neutral

To excite or stir strong emotions, enthusiasm, or anger in a person or group.

"The politician whipped up the crowd with promises of change and prosperity."

"He could whip up a crowd like no one I'd ever seen."

— Barack Obama, referencing Jesse Jackson, Dreams from My Father (1995)
Grammar: separable
3 B2 neutral

When weather develops rapidly and becomes violent (used of wind, storms, or waves).

"The wind whipped up suddenly, sending dust and leaves swirling across the street."

Grammar: inseparable
4 B1 idiomatic informal

To create or produce something quickly, especially a document or creative work.

"Can you whip up a quick sketch of the layout before the meeting?"

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Two main uses: culinary (prepare food quickly) and figurative (incite emotion in a crowd). The figurative sense can carry negative connotations when referring to anger or panic. Common in both British and American English.

Commonly used with

meal frenzy enthusiasm support crowd storm

Forms

Base
whip up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
whips up
he/she/it
Past simple
whiped up
yesterday
Past participle
whiped up
have + pp
-ing form
whiping up
continuous

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Synonyms

rustle up stir up rouse incite prepare quickly knock up

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