whip the cat
To attempt to get work or money from someone who is too weak or poor to provide it.
Definitions
Australia
#1·Apr 27, 2026AUS
To attempt to get work or money from someone who is too weak or poor to provide it.
There was a terrible "whipping of the cat, " as it is called, on the day the notes became due. This whipping the cat is nothing more than a parcel of traders puffing at one another's heels . . . to borrow money.
Origin: Originally from reference to a prank played on country bumpkins, in which they were encouraged to show their strength by whipping a cat that was harnessed to a load that was too heavy for it. This led to the sense of attempting to get more than can be provided, and by extension, to practice extreme parsimony. From there, it possibly evolved to the other senses, which tend to reflect the connotations of poverty and/or uselessness. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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Australia
#2·Apr 27, 2026AUS
(AU, NZ) To regret; to feel self-pity.
He kept school within six miles of Cooperstown, on the Burlington road, whipping the cat, just as young Munro did!
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Australia
#3·Apr 27, 2026AUS
(UK, Australia, obsolete) To practice extreme parsimony.
seeing that the Committee has already practically defeated the principle that any new business shall have any special exemption under this Bill, I do not propose to take up further time in “whipping the cat” on that question.
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Other words near "whip the cat" (W)
whingewhipwhipper snipperwhippywhip-roundwhip-smartwhirly-windwhishtwhiskinwhisky-jackwhiskyjackwhistlewing
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