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to whip up

to whip up

62 3.0
To quickly make food with little effort
  • phrasal verb
  • /wɪp ʌp/
translation icon : preparar
  • She decided to whip up some cookies before her friends arrived for the party.
  • whip up a meal
  • whip up a dish
  • whip up dinner

Obviously you saw I decided to whip up a sourdough.

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Examples

  • We are so, so excited to see what everyone whips up to help those in need!

    Blog text (4)
  • - Have a seat, I'll whip you up some toast.

  • Look, if you want me to, I can whip you up one.

  • However, I feel like we can go the extra mile and whip up some fresh double cream and pop that on the top.

  • And I can whip up a nice little meal for all of us.

  • I'll whip up something in the kitchen.

  • I'll whip up some pancakes for everyone else, all right?

  • I can't wait to see what magic you whip up in your studio this holiday season.

    Blog text (18)
  • You just name the evening and I will have our chefs whip up some fine Louisiana cooking.

  • "While you're rocking," I said, "why don't I whip us up some lunch?"

    Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

to cook up
vsto whip up
20 3.2

Prepare a quick meal by mixing ingredients you have

is made fast with little effort rather than creative invention
to cook up a storm
vsto whip up
  • Informal
2 4.6

To make a large amount of food for many people with great energy

focuses on quick small-effort preparation rather than large enthusiastic output
to toss together
vsto whip up
  • Informal
2 3.4

Mix a few ingredients quickly without much preparation

involves quick whole-dish preparation with little effort rather than only mixing
to whomp up
vsto whip up
  • Informal
9.5

Make a quick meal often from leftovers

is quick to make but done with little effort rather than improvised

How Quickly

to whip up
62 3.0
to mix
416 1.0
to put together
988 2.8
to prepare
374 1.0

Surface Forms

whip up infinitive
whipped up past
whipped up past participle
whipping up present participle
whips up third person singular

Morphology

whip + up

The cooking sense 'to quickly prepare' is partly inferable from 'whip' (to beat/whisk) and the particle 'up' (signaling completion or intensification), so a learner might guess it involves making something quickly. However, the extension from literal whisking to general, effortless preparation is metaphorical and not fully predictable without exposure, making the expression only partially transparent.

Etymology

The phrasal verb whip up comes from the image of the whip action of quickly beating or stirring food like cream or eggs, with a fast motion that goes up. So, it now means 'to make or cook something quickly with little effort'.