whisk
verbEtymology From Middle English whisk, borrowed from Old Norse visk, from Proto-Germanic *wiskaz, *wiskō (“bundle of hay, wisp”), from Proto-Indo-European *weys-. Cognates Cognate with Danish visk, Dutch wis, German Wisch, Latin virga (“rod, switch”), viscus (“entrails”), Lithuanian vizgéti (“to tremble”), Czech věchet (“wisp of straw”), Sanskrit वेष्क (veṣka, “noose”). Compare also Old English wiscian (“to plait”), granwisc (“awn”). The unetymological wh- is probably expressive of the sound; compare the same development in whip and onomatopoeias such as whack and whoosh.
To move something with quick light sweeping motions.
- Vernon whisked the sawdust from his workbench.
- He that walks in gray, whisking his riding Page.1626 February 13 (licensing date; Gregorian calendar), Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Noble Gentleman”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
1 more example
- She held out her empty glass and it was adroitly whisked from her hand.1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 40:
In cooking, to whip e.g. eggs or cream.
- The chef prepared to whisk the egg whites for the angel's food cake.
- First, marinate the tofu. In a bowl, whisk the kecap manis, chilli sauce, and sesame oil together. Cut the tofu into strips about 1cm thick, mix gently (so it doesn't break) with the marinade and leave in the fridge for half an hour.2012 May 8, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Random House, →ISBN, page 79:
To move something rapidly and with no warning.
- July 3, 1769, Horace Walpole, letter to the Earl of Strafford I beg she would not impale worms, nor whisk carp out of one element into another.
- The governess whisked the children from the room before they could see their presents.
To move lightly and nimbly.
- The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- The children whisked down the road to the fair, laughing and chattering as they went.
To move whiskers.
- Derived terms
- tim-whiskey, whisk away, whisk off