Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
whipper-in

whipper-in

9.9
A person who helps the leader of a fox hunt by keeping the dogs together
  • noun
  • /ˈwɪpə r ɪn/
  • Jargon
translation icon : perro de caza

Examples

  • Oh, did I ever tell you about the time I was out foxhuntin' with a 13-year-old girl, the whipper-in, and she broke her neck?

    Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)

  • The experienced whipper-in skillfully kept the hounds together during the fox hunt.

  • As the whipper-in, his job was to ensure the hounds stayed close to the huntsman.

  • During the hunt, the whipper-in called out to the hounds to guide them back on track.

Antonyms

disperser
6.4

An animal or machine that spreads seeds and pollen across a wide area

scatterer
  • Specialized
7.7

Something that makes light, sound, or particles spread out

Surface Forms

whipper-in singular
whipper-ins plural

Morphology

whipper-in = whipper (semi-transparent) = whip + er + in

Formally composed from 'whip' + '-er' + 'in', but the specific hunting role and particle 'in' usage are specialized and may not be obvious to average learners.

Etymology

Whipper-in comes from the tool whip and the small word in ('in' or 'into'), meaning someone who uses a whip to bring stray dogs back into the pack. So a whipper-in is the huntsman's helper whose job is to keep the hounds together during a hunt.