whig

[ hwig, wig ]

verb (used without object),whigged, whig·ging.Scot.
  1. to move along briskly.

Origin of whig

1
1660–70; perhaps Scots variant of dial. fig to move briskly; see fidget

Words Nearby whig

Other definitions for Whig (2 of 2)

Whig
[ hwig, wig ]

noun
  1. American History.

    • a member of the patriotic party during the Revolutionary period; supporter of the Revolution.

    • a member of a political party (c1834–1855) that was formed in opposition to the Democratic Party, and favored economic expansion and a high protective tariff, while opposing the strength of the presidency in relation to the legislature.

  2. British Politics.

    • a member of a major political party (1679–1832) in Great Britain that held liberal principles and favored reforms: later called the Liberal party.

    • (in later use) one of the more conservative members of the Liberal party.

adjective
  1. being a Whig.

  2. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Whigs.

Origin of Whig

2
1635–45; earlier, a Covenanter, hence an opponent of the accession of James II; of uncertain origin, though probably in part a shortening of whiggamaire (later whiggamore), a participant in the Whiggamore Raid a march against the royalists in Edinburgh launched by Covenanters in 1648 (said to represent whig to spur on (cf. whig) + mairemare1)

Other words from Whig

  • an·ti-Whig, adjective
  • pro-Whig, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use whig in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Whig

Whig

/ (wɪɡ) /


noun
  1. a member of the English political party or grouping that opposed the succession to the throne of James, Duke of York, in 1679–80 on the grounds that he was a Catholic. Standing for a limited monarchy, the Whigs represented the great aristocracy and the moneyed middle class for the next 80 years. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Whigs represented the desires of industrialists and Dissenters for political and social reform. The Whigs provided the core of the Liberal Party

  2. (in the US) a supporter of the War of American Independence: Compare Tory

  1. a member of the American political party that opposed the Democrats from about 1834 to 1855 and represented propertied and professional interests

  2. a conservative member of the Liberal Party in Great Britain

  3. a person who advocates and believes in an unrestricted laissez-faire economy

  4. history a 17th-century Scottish Presbyterian, esp one in rebellion against the Crown

adjective
  1. of, characteristic of, or relating to Whigs

Origin of Whig

1
C17: probably shortened from whiggamore, one of a group of 17th-century Scottish rebels who joined in an attack on Edinburgh known as the whiggamore raid; probably from Scottish whig to drive (of obscure origin) + more, mer, maire horse, mare 1

Derived forms of Whig

  • Whiggery or Whiggism, noun
  • Whiggish, adjective
  • Whiggishly, adverb
  • Whiggishness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012