Also spelled Whup and a-whoopin

US /wuːp/
verb Freq #10995

Meanings

  1. 1
    verb

    shout, as if with joy or enthusiasm

    The children whooped when they were led to the picnic table.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
Word family
Forms whoopedwhoopingwhoops
Derived forms whoop-up
Related forms whoop-whoopwhoopeewhoops

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...

View etymology graph ->

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.