whip the cat
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.94 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To get drunk.
verb
To go from house to house working by the day, as itinerant tailors and carpenters do.
American usage; Dated
verb
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see whip, cat.
Example Sentences
- "There was a terrible "whipping of the cat, " as it is called, on the day the notes became due. This whipping the cat is nothing more than a parcel of traders puffing at one another's heels . . . to borrow money."
- "[…] seeing that the Committee has already practically defeated the principle that any new business shall have any special exemption under this Bill, I do not propose to take up further time in “whipping the cat” on that question."
- "He kept school within six miles of Cooperstown, on the Burlington road, whipping the cat, just as young Munro did!"
- "I "whipped the cat” a bit, the first twenty miles or so, but then, I thought, what did it matter? What was the use of grinding to save money until we were too old to enjoy it."
- "I've shanked across the Old Man Plain, after busting up a cheque, And "whipped the cat" once more again, though I haven't met it yet."
- "I believe one of the members of our hunting section was lucky enough to get a subscription through before they stopped it. The rest of the members of the section have been "whipping the cat” because they left it too late"
Etymology
Originally from reference to a prank played on country bumpkins, in which they were encouraged to show their strength by whipping a cat that was harnessed to a load that was too heavy for it. This led to the sense of attempting to get more than can be provided, and by extension, to practice extreme parsimony. From there, it possibly evolved to the other senses, which tend to reflect the connotations of poverty and/or uselessness.
Usage
- Australian usage
- British usage
- Obsolete
- New Zealand usage
- American usage
- Dated