Adjacent Words

Whig definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WHIG, n. [See Whey.] Acidulated whey, sometimes mixed with butter milk and sweet herbs; used as a cooling beverage. [Local.]
WHIG, n. [origin uncertain.] One of a political party which had its origin in England in the seventeenth century, in the reign of Charles I. or II., when great contests existed respecting the royal prerogatives and the rights of the people. Those who supported the king in his high claims, were called tories, and the advocates of popular rights were called whigs. During the revolution in the United States, the friends and supporters of the war and the principles of the revolution, were called whigs, and those who opposed them, were called tories and royalists.
Where then, when tories scarce get clear, shall whigs and congresses appear?

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a member of the political party that urged social reform in 18th and 19th century England; was the opposition party to the Tories
2: a supporter of the American Revolution
3: a member of the Whig Party that existed in the United States before the American Civil War

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: short for Whiggamore, member of a Scottish group that marched to Edinburgh in 1648 to oppose the court party Date: 1702 1. a member or supporter of a major British political group of the late 17th through early 19th centuries seeking to limit the royal authority and increase parliamentary power — compare Tory 2. an American favoring independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution 3. a member or supporter of an American political party formed about 1834 in opposition to the Jacksonian Democrats, associated chiefly with manufacturing, commercial, and financial interests, and succeeded about 1854 by the Republican party • Whig adjective • Whiggism noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. hist. 1 Polit. a member of the British reforming and constitutional party that after 1688 sought the supremacy of Parliament and was eventually succeeded in the 19th c. by the Liberal Party (opp. TORY 2). 2 a 17th-c. Scottish Presbyterian. 3 US a a supporter of the American Revolution. b a member of an American political party in the 19th c., succeeded by the Republicans. Derivatives: Whiggery n. Whiggish adj. Whiggism n. Etymology: prob. a shortening of Sc. whiggamer, -more, nickname of 17th-c. Sc. rebels, f. whig to drive + MARE(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Whig Whig, n. [See Whey.] Acidulated whey, sometimes mixed with buttermilk and sweet herbs, used as a cooling beverage. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Whig Whig, n. [Said to be from whiggam, a term used in Scotland in driving horses, whiggamore one who drives horses (a term applied to some western Scotchmen), contracted to whig. In 1648, a party of these people marched to Edinburgh to oppose the king and the duke of Hamilton (the Whiggamore raid), and hence the name of Whig was given to the party opposed to the court. Cf. Scot. whig to go quickly.] 1. (Eng. Politics) One of a political party which grew up in England in the seventeenth century, in the reigns of Charles I. and II., when great contests existed respecting the royal prerogatives and the rights of the people. Those who supported the king in his high claims were called Tories, and the advocates of popular rights, of parliamentary power over the crown, and of toleration to Dissenters, were, after 1679, called Whigs. The terms Liberal and Radical have now generally superseded Whig in English politics. See the note under Tory. 2. (Amer. Hist.) (a) A friend and supporter of the American Revolution; -- opposed to Tory, and Royalist. (b) One of the political party in the United States from about 1829 to 1856, opposed in politics to the Democratic party.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Whig Whig, a. Of or pertaining to the Whigs.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(Whigs) 1. A Whig was a member of a British political party in the 18th and 19th centuries that was in favour of political and social changes. (BRIT) N-COUNT 2. In the American Revolution, a Whig was an American who supported the revolution against the British. (AM) N-COUNT 3. A Whig was a member of an American political party in the 19th century that wanted to limit the powers of the President. (AM) N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

Conservative, Democrat, Labourite, Republican, Tory, heeler, loyalist, partisan, party faithful, party hack, party man, party member, party wheelhorse, registered Democrat, registered Republican, regular, stalwart, ward heeler, wheelhorse