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”)).
Meanings
A loud, eager cry, usually of joy.
Lavender Hearts has often been stopped by the presence of some wild woman who just can't contain her whoop or moan. Now that's community! 1991 February 11, Jennifer Justice, “Farewell Lavender Hearts”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 29, page 9:
Mixed with the whoop of the crane and the roar of the grim alligator. 1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, (please specify either |part=I or II):
[A] great whoop of victory sounded as finally they carried the fish up the beach. 1983, The Fisherman Who Laughed, page 30:
A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough.
A bump on a racetrack.
The “98 MPH” sign used to be on a set of particularly vicious whoops at one of John's favorite racetracks. 2009, Lee Klancher, Kevin Cameron, Motorcycle Dream Garages, page 184:
The key to jamming through the whoops is to keep your weight to the back of the quad […] and keep the front wheels high […] 2006, Steve Casper, ATVs: Everything You Need to Know, page 104:
ga cuach (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · it grido (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · bg вик (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · ro urlet (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · ru во́зглас (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · cs zavýsknutí (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · fi kiljahdus (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · fr hurlement (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · bg възглас (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · cs výkřik (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · ru ка́шель (A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough) · it urlo (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · bg магарешка кашлица (A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough) · ru вы́крик (An exclamation, a cry, usually of joy) · it urlo della pertosse (A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough)
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”)).
Meanings
(intransitive) To make a whoop.
each whooping with a merry shout 1815, William Wordsworth, Beggars:
When naught was heard but now and then the howl / Of some vile cur, or whooping of the owl. 1613, William Browne, Britannia's Pastorals:
(transitive) To shout, to yell.
I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan. 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
To cough or breathe with a sonorous inspiration, as in whooping cough.
(obsolete, transitive) To insult with shouts; to chase with derision.
And suffered me by the voice of slaves to be / Whooped out of Rome. c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
cs výskat (to make a whoop) · bg възкликвам (to make a whoop) · fr hurler (to make a whoop) · cs křičet (to make a whoop) · ru улюлю́кать (to insult with shouts; to chase with derision) · ru ги́кать (to insult with shouts; to chase with derision)
ru разгроми́ть (to defeat thoroughly) · it annientare (to defeat thoroughly) · fi hakata (to defeat thoroughly) · bg разбивам (to defeat thoroughly) · fi hakata (to beat, to strike) · fi piestä (to defeat thoroughly) · it colpire (to beat, to strike) · ru поколоти́ть (to beat, to strike) · it picchiare (to beat, to strike) · ru колоти́ть (to beat, to strike)