the.com/whip up

Two words promising both a soufflé and a riot, depending on your verb energy.

means To create or prepare something quickly and energetically, especially food, enthusiasm, or a crowd's emotions.

from Built from "whip," a word of Germanic stock (related to Middle Dutch and Low German terms for quick, lashing movement) that likely began as an imitation of the sound a flicking cord makes. The cooking sense — beating eggs or cream into froth with fast strokes — gave "whip up" its kitchen life, and from there it spread by metaphor: just as you lash air into batter, you can lash a crowd into a frenzy or a meal into existence in minutes. The "up" adds that sense of bringing something into being from nothing, the way "cook up" or "stir up" do.

kitchen origin
Refers to literally whipping air into eggs or cream
speed implied
Suggests effortless creation, hides hours of actual labor
crowd version
To whip up a mob means stir emotion fast
verb range
Covers cooking, sewing, and inciting full rebellions
the.com · every word