What is a whip in BDSM?

A whip is the collective name for impact tools with a handle and one or more supple tails. Very different objects fall under it, from a flogger with dozens of broad tails to a bullwhip with one long tip. So the word tells you which family you mean, not which object.

What types of whips are there?

Four main types: the flogger with many flat tails, the single tail with one tail, the bullwhip with a braided tip and the chain whip with metal chains. There are also shorter variants such as the riding crop , the riding whip and the martinet .

Who can you ask about whips?

Victor, a gigolo with over twenty-five years of experience in BDSM and a background as a psychotherapist. Which type of whip suits someone is simply part of the conversation beforehand, and you don’t need to know anything for that. Ask your question through the contact form or first chat for free .

Close-up of an open book with a pencil between the pages, in black and white

Glossary

Whip

One word for a dozen very different objects, and a name that describes not the thing but the motion.

What is a whip?

A whip (in Dutch zweep) is the collective name for impact tools with a handle and one or more supple tails. That single word covers objects that feel completely different: from a bundle of broad leather straps to one single long tip. Which type you mean says more than the word itself.

Dutch term	zweep; each type has its own name
Category	a tool within impact play
Four main types	flogger, single tail, bullwhip, chain whip
Related tools	riding crop, crop, riding whip, martinet, quirt, cat o’ nine tails
Oldest Dutch attestation	1285, as suepekin, a small whip made of rope
What the word names	the motion, not the object

Which types fall under it

Four main types, and they resemble each other less than the name suggests.

Flogger. Many flat, unknotted tails on a single handle, from velvet-soft to biting depending on the material.
Single tail. One single tail, and the name of a whole family rather than of one object; the snake whip is one of them.
Bullwhip. The long braided whip whose tip cracks through the sound barrier.
Chain whip. Thin little chains instead of leather tails.

Around those sits a row of shorter tools that fall under the same Dutch word: the riding crop and the crop from horse riding, the riding whip, the martinet, the quirt and the cat o’ nine tails. Each of those pages describes the object, what it does and where the points to watch are; this page only points the way.

Where the Dutch word zweep comes from

From the swing, not from the object.

The Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands gives as the oldest attestation the Middle Dutch swepe, in a line from 1285: “Ghemaect van repen een suepekin”, a small whip made of rope. The word goes back to the Germanic swipō-, to which the verb swipōn- belongs, “to wield the whip”. Alongside it, with vowel alternation, stands swaipan-, “to move back and forth”, from which among others the Old English swāpan arose, swinging something like a sword, and from that in turn the English swoop.

The dictionary thereby places zweep in the same family as zwaaien (to swing) and zwiepen (to whip back and forth), and expressly leaves open a link with zweven (to float). What those words share is a back-and-forth motion, not a shape. That is exactly why one Dutch word can cover a dozen completely different objects: it names what you do with it.

Where this fits on this site

Want to know which type suits you before you pick one? That conversation is part of the booking. What gets talked through beforehand is on the page about the BDSM date.

Sources

zweep. M. Philippa, F. Debrabandere, A. Quak, T. Schoonheim & N. van der Sijs, Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands (2003–2009), consulted via the Etymologiebank. Provides the description “a kind of riding whip”, the oldest Middle Dutch attestation swepe from 1285 in “Ghemaect van repen een suepekin” according to the VMNW, the derivation to Germanic swipō- with its verb swipōn- ‘to wield the whip’, the ablaut relationship with swaipan- ‘to move back and forth’ from which the Old English swāpan ‘to swing’ and the English swoop descend, and the observation that the word belongs with the group of zwaaien and zwiepen, with a possible link to zweven. The dictionary expressly calls the further etymology unclear.

A whip is a tool within impact play; that page covers what the category as a whole involves.

Flogger. The type with the most tails, and for many people the first introduction.
Single tail. One tail, and the name of a whole family.
Snake whip. The member of that family without a stiff handle, the one you roll up like a snake.
Bullwhip. The longest of them all, with the crack thrown in.
Stockwhip and signal whip. The two remaining members of that same family, each with one part that differs.
Chain whip. Metal instead of leather.
Riding crop. The short type from horse riding, without a lash.
Cat o’ nine tails. The historical type, with the naval punishment behind it.

Frequently asked questions

What people still ask about the whip.

What is a whip in BDSM?
A whip is the collective name for impact tools with a handle and one or more supple tails. Very different objects fall under it, from a flogger with dozens of broad tails to a bullwhip with one long tip. So the word tells you which family you mean, not which object.
What types of whips are there?
Four main types: the flogger with many flat tails, the single tail with one tail, the bullwhip with a braided tip and the chain whip with metal chains. There are also shorter variants such as the riding crop, the riding whip and the martinet.
Who can you ask about whips?
Victor, a gigolo with over twenty-five years of experience in BDSM and a background as a psychotherapist. Which type of whip suits someone is simply part of the conversation beforehand, and you don’t need to know anything for that. Ask your question through the contact form or first chat for free.