as in advantage
the more favorable condition or position in a competition
unquestionably the company has the whip hand in negotiations with the labor union
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of whip hand
Microsoft’s whip hand, more than anything, else, comes down to cold hard cash.
—
Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 19 Nov. 2023
The failure of the ‘red wave’ to materialize means that an old-fashioned socialist will have the whip hand over health care for the next two years.
—Joel Zinberg, National Review, 30 Nov. 2022
Amazon has been using the cameras to monitor social distancing between workers during the pandemic — just one of the ways in which computers hold the whip hand in this workplace.
—Sarah O'Connor, Ars Technica, 19 Mar. 2022
The president will be held responsible for whatever happens, so House Democrats have the whip hand in any negotiation.
—Ryan Cooper, TheWeek, 17 Mar. 2020
In fact, from the start the EU saw itself as holding whip hand in the talks, convinced that a failure, while bad for both sides, would be worse for the Brits.
—Laurence Norman, WSJ, 14 Dec. 2018
Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 19 Nov. 2023
The failure of the ‘red wave’ to materialize means that an old-fashioned socialist will have the whip hand over health care for the next two years.
—Joel Zinberg, National Review, 30 Nov. 2022
Amazon has been using the cameras to monitor social distancing between workers during the pandemic — just one of the ways in which computers hold the whip hand in this workplace.
—Sarah O'Connor, Ars Technica, 19 Mar. 2022
The president will be held responsible for whatever happens, so House Democrats have the whip hand in any negotiation.
—Ryan Cooper, TheWeek, 17 Mar. 2020
In fact, from the start the EU saw itself as holding whip hand in the talks, convinced that a failure, while bad for both sides, would be worse for the Brits.
—Laurence Norman, WSJ, 14 Dec. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whip hand
Noun
-
One major advantage of developing artificial intelligence in China lies in the availability of large, high-quality datasets, particularly coming from hospitals that are often willing to share medical information for research purposes.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Who is looking strongest for these next three races/who has the advantage beyond just points standings?—
Jeff Gluck,
New York Times,
11 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Rainwater tends to accumulate at the road edges.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Audi — never one to truly push hard into the proper luxury coupe market, but always working around its edges — has bowed out of the two-door market entirely.—
Will Sabel Courtney,
Robb Report,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
His quickness often gives him an upper hand to wall off lanes or square off rushers (zero sacks allowed).—
Dane Brugler,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Winged munition autonomously detects moving targets Raytheon also highlighted that the StormBreaker smart weapon gives operators an upper hand in combat by hitting moving targets in some of the worst weather conditions.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Whip hand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whip%20hand. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share