whisk

/ˈwɪsk/

nounB1+2 meanings Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,248 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: whisked, whisks, whisking

A whisk is the looped wire tool for beating eggs and cream fast. Air goes in, and the mixture doubles.

The balloon whisk is the classic shape, and an electric one saves a great deal of forearm. The verb goes with it, so you whisk egg whites to stiff peaks. There is a second verb sense about speed, since whisking somebody away means removing them quickly, and a waiter whisks a plate off the table. Both come from the same idea of a quick sweeping movement.

Definitions of whisk

1nounwhiskA wire kitchen tool for beating eggs or cream.B1+
“Beat the cream with a whisk until it thickens.”
- Said"Pass me the whisk, I'll do the eggs while you butter the tin."
- WrittenThe old whisk had lost a wire and still beat batter faster than the machine.
- UsedUse a balloon whisk for sauces and the small one for a single yolk.
- ContrastA whisk, not a spoon. A spoon stirs and keeps the mixture together; a whisk beats air into it. spoon →
- Not thisAn electric mixer is not a whisk, though it does the same job. Whisks are worked by hand.
- Exchange"Fork or whisk?""Whisk. We want it light."
- SimplyThe whisk is fast. The cream goes soft and big.
Patterna balloon / electric whisk · whisk sth (eggs, cream) · whisk until stiff / smooth · beat with a whisk
2verbtakeTo take or move something away quickly.B2
“He was whisked off to hospital before anyone could speak to him.”

Remember it

WHISKer → a cat's whiskers made of wire

A cat's whiskers, curved and made of wire, beating the eggs: that is what a whisk looks like.

Where it comes from

A whisk was a wisp of hay. Old Norse visk meant a bundle of hay or straw, and wisp is the very same word.

Proto-Indo-European
*weys-
Proto-Germanic
*wiskaz
Old Norse
visk
Middle English
whisk
English, today
whisk

Built from

*wiskō · Proto-Germanic — bundle of hay, wisp

From Middle English whisk, borrowed from Old Norse visk, from Proto-Germanic wiskaz, wiskō (“bundle of hay, wisp”), from Proto-Indo-European weys-. 2 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 (“noose”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Definitions of whisk

1nounwhiskA wire kitchen tool for beating eggs or cream.B1+

“Beat the cream with a whisk until it thickens.”

Said"Pass me the whisk, I'll do the eggs while you butter the tin."
WrittenThe old whisk had lost a wire and still beat batter faster than the machine.
UsedUse a balloon whisk for sauces and the small one for a single yolk.
ContrastA whisk, not a spoon. A spoon stirs and keeps the mixture together; a whisk beats air into it. spoon →
Not thisAn electric mixer is not a whisk, though it does the same job. Whisks are worked by hand.
Exchange"Fork or whisk?""Whisk. We want it light."
SimplyThe whisk is fast. The cream goes soft and big.

Patterna balloon / electric whisk · whisk sth (eggs, cream) · whisk until stiff / smooth · beat with a whisk

2verbtakeTo take or move something away quickly.B2

“He was whisked off to hospital before anyone could speak to him.”