whippet

noun

whip·​pet ˈ(h)wi-pət How to pronounce whippet (audio)
: any of a breed of small swift slender dogs used for coursing small game and racing

Examples of whippet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web According to police, the 7-year-old whippet rat terrier mix had escaped from her home in Wellesley. Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 15 Sep. 2023 Will looking at a photo of a whippet wearing a tiny sweater help? Amy Collier, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2023 Daniel Rader Our third version of the story comes from Teddy, a manager of second-rate acts that included a bagpipe-playing whippet and Miss Mulatto and her 120 Pigeons, before meeting Frank Hardy. Terry Byrne, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Aug. 2023 What connects all of these characters, even as the film flings them all over the globe and plays musical chairs with its parallel narratives, is a slimy tech guru named Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott) — think Steve Jobs meets Elon Musk meets a sociopathic whippet. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 8 June 2022 We’re huddled together at a bar in Austin, Texas, during SXSW, where the gonzo comedian typically holds court, and he’s sucked in about a half-dozen whippets thus far, laughing maniacally and locking eyes with me each time his big, blue balloon fills with nitrous oxide. Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2023 What is a whippet? Marcia Greenwood, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2022 Lesbian Lighthouse, a whippet-fast farce about life in the New York arts economy. Helen Shaw, Vulture, 15 June 2022 The team recruited Wilson’s dog — a greyhound-whippet-terrier cross — to test the gear on an English beach, cross-checking data reports against paw prints in the sand, before deploying collars in the field. Josie Garthwaite, Discover Magazine, 11 Dec. 2013 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whippet.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

probably from whip entry 1

First Known Use

1610, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of whippet was in 1610

Dictionary Entries Near whippet

Cite this Entry

“Whippet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whippet. Accessed 28 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

whippet

noun
whip·​pet ˈhwip-ət How to pronounce whippet (audio)
ˈwip-
: any of a breed of small swift slender dogs that are often used for hunting small animals or racing

More from Merriam-Webster on whippet

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