# whisk

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈwɪsk/ · frequency rank #25,257

## Definitions
1. A quick, light sweeping motion.
2. A kitchen utensil, now usually made from stiff wire loops fixed to a handle (and formerly of twigs), used for whipping (or a mechanical device with the same function).
3. A bunch of twigs or hair etc, used as a brush.
4. A small handheld broom with a small (or no) handle.
5. A plane used by coopers for evening chines.
6. A kind of cape, forming part of a woman's dress.

## Etymology
From Middle English whisk, borrowed from Old Norse visk, from Proto-Germanic *wiskaz, *wiskō (“bundle of hay, wisp”), from Proto-Indo-European *weys-.
Cognates
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 (veṣka, “noose”).
Compare also Old English wiscian (“to plait”), granwisc (“awn”).
The unetymological wh- is probably expressive of the sound; compare the same development in whip and onomatopoeias such as whack and whoosh.

## Easily confused with
- **wis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-wis)
- **wish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-wish)
- **wise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-wise)
- **wink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-wink)
- **wick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-wick)
- **whit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-whit)
- **whos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-whos)
- **whiz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-whiz)
- **wisp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-wisp)
- **white** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-white)
- **whose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-whose)
- **wrist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-wrist)
- **whisky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-whisky)
- **whiskey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-whiskey)
- **whisker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whisk-vs-whisker)
- **whip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whip-vs-whisk)
- **whim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whim-vs-whisk)
- **whig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whig-vs-whisk)
- **which** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whisk)
- **while** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/while-vs-whisk)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hwisk`, `whhisk`, `whiks`, `whiskk`, `whissk`, `whsik`, `wihsk`, `wwhisk`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/whisk