Word.ws English Dictionary

three-line whip

three-line whip noun: a directive to MPs from party leaders to attend a parliamentary meeting and vote in a particular way, despite what the MP might believe or what his or her constituents might like.

Noun

three-line whip (plural three-line whips)

  1. (UK) A directive to MPs from party leaders to attend a parliamentary meeting and vote in a particular way, despite what the MP might believe or what his or her constituents might like.
    • Since the metaphysical status of egg-casing is not one on which the church has yet pronounced, opposition appears based on "yuck" and nothing else. But yuck has become diktat, with Catholic MPs up to cabinet level being given a three-line whip by their bishops.2008 April 12, Simon Jenkins, Richard Harries, “Atheist versus Bishop”, in The Guardian
    • Deputy Chief Whip Craig Whittaker told them it will be a “100% hard” three-line whip, saying: “This is not a motion on fracking. This is a confidence motion in the Government.”2022 October 19, Ashley Cowburn, quoting Craig Whittaker, “Liz Truss declares fracking vote tonight a ‘confidence motion’ in her government”, in Mirror
  2. (broadly, humorous) An imperative order.
    • I have to go shopping with the wife, I'm afraid. She's given me a three-line whip.

Forms of three-line whip

pluralthree-line whips

Origin of three-line whip

From the triple underlining of very important votes on “the whip” — a document detailing upcoming business distributed weekly to British MPs by party managers.

Questions about three-line whip

What does three-line whip mean?
Three-line whip means a directive to MPs from party leaders to attend a parliamentary meeting and vote in a particular way, despite what the MP might believe or what his or her constituents might like.
What part of speech is three-line whip?
Three-line whip is a noun.
What is the plural of three-line whip?
The plural of three-line whip is three-line whips.

Words near three-line whip in the dictionary

  1. three-legged race
  2. three-legged races
  3. three-leggeds
  4. three-letter agencies
  5. three-letter agency
  6. three-line whip
  7. three-line whips
  8. three-lips
  9. three-martini lunch
  10. three-martini lunches
  11. three-men-in-a-boat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: three-line whip (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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