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.

“I have to go shopping with the wife, I'm afraid. She's given me a three-line whip.”

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounthree-line whip (plural three-line whips)

plural three-line whips

  1. UKgovernmentA 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.

    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
    1 more example

    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
  2. broadlyhumorousAn imperative order.

    I have to go shopping with the wife, I'm afraid. She's given me a three-line whip.

Origin

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

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

three-line whip. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/three-line%20whip

MLA

“three-line whip.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/three-line%20whip. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “three-line whip,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/three-line%20whip.

Source: three-line whip on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.