Also 5 valop, walop, 6 wallope, 9 wallup, w(h)ollop, etc. [a. ONF. walop (found in 13th c. in pl. walos) = F. galop, related to galoper to gallop: see WALLOP v. There is nothing to show whether the verb or the sb. is the earlier formation in OF. Both were introduced together into ME. in sense 1, appearing first in the 14th c.; but in later use in all senses the sb. is more often to be regarded as newly formed from the verb in its later applications, and with its onomatopœic and humorous connotation. The form GALLOP appears first in the 16th c. and replaces wallop sb. in the original and more elevated sense, in which, however, WALLOP v. continues to be evidenced.]
† 1. A horse’s gallop. Only advb. phr. (tr. or imitations of French) (to ride, go, etc.) † a wallop, at the gallop; † a (or the) great wallop, in full gallop. Obs.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 1770. Þei went a-wai a wallop as þei wod semed.
c. 1450. Merlin, viii. 127. And than he rode a walop after Vlfyn, gripynge his spere.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. xxii. 69. So he rode a grete wallop tyll he cam to the fontayne.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, ix. 229. Foulques of morillon cam afore all the other, well horsed … the grete valop agenste Reynawde.
b. A ride at this pace. rare–1. (? Jocular.)
1896. E. Crawford, Jo of Auchendorass, 201. Famous place this for your morning wallop.
† 2. The series of noisy bubbling motions made by water, etc. rapidly boiling, or approaching boiling point. Usually in phr. † to boil (seethe) a wallop, a full wallop: to boil with a rapid noisy bubbling, to ‘gallop.’ Obs. Cf. WALA sb.1 3.
1565. Golding, Ovid’s Met., VII. (1593), 160. The medcine seething all the while a wallop in a pan Of brasse, to spirt and leape aloft and gather froth began.
1576. Turberv., Venerie, lxxix. 230. Put a glasse full of white wine to them, and let them boyle therein, a whalme or a wallop in a pewter pot.
1591. A. W., Bk. Cookrye, 17. When it seetheth a full wallop, put in your Shrimpes faire washed.
† b. One such bubbling motion (as a vague measure, in cooking, of the time anything is allowed to boil). Only in phr. to boil (or seethe, trans. or intr.), to have, so many wallops. Obs.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. 130 b. Seethe them [herbs] togeather three or foure wallops, and geue it him bludwarme.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Onde, Bouillir vne onde, to boyle a whyle, or but for one bubble, or a wallop or two.
1682. Hartman, True Preserver Health, 11. Let it only boil five or six wallops.
1743. Lond. & Country Brewer, IV. (ed. 2), 267. Put as much Salt, and Nothing else, as will lie on a Crown-Piece, into a Copper … and as it heats and the Scum rises, take it off before it boils in; then, when it has had a Wallop or two, lade two Pailfuls.
1750. Ellis, Mod. Husb., III. I. 128 (E. D. S.). Boil the cream a wallop or two to preserve it.
3. dial. (esp. Sc.) and colloq. A violent, heavy, clumsy, noisy movement of the body; a plunging, floundering, lurching, etc.
1820. Scott, Abbot, xv. Some caprioles of the hobby-horse, and some wallops of the dragon.
1834. M. Scott, Cruise Midge, xviii. He made the most laughable wallop imaginable, intended for a bow, but more like the gambol of a porpoise.
1842. J. Wilson, Recr. Chr. North (1857), I. 4. The yellow trout forsakes his fastness beneath the bog-wood; and with a lazy wallop, and then a sudden plunge [etc.].
1890. D. Davidson, Mem. Long Life, xi. 269. I put a bullet in the centre of his head, when he [the shark] gave a tremendous wallop and sank.
b. Used onomatopœically and quasi-adverbially with verbs of motion to represent the noise of such movements. To go (downe) wallop: to fall noisily.
1540. Palsgr., Acolastus, III. i. N iv b. Nowe hath this gredy gutte meat inough to swalow down, by his wide throte, with a choppe and a wallop.
1885. Towers, Poems, 182 (E. D. D.). Souple Tam Gaed wallop ower the stile.
1896. Warwick, Word-bk., He went wallop = he fell down all of a heap.
1915. Scot at Hame & Abr., 1 July, 2/1. Then gallop, gallop, gallop, wallop, wallop, wallop. Though I fall at the high jump, an’ onlookers quiver, McGregor, the jockey, will ride on for ever.
4. colloq. and humorous. A heavy resounding blow; a whack. Also (in boxing slang) the capacity to deliver such a blow.
1823. ‘Jon Bee,’ Dict. Turf, Wallup, a random hit, any where.
1827. Hardman, Battle Waterloo, 10. Be ready, when the 10th retire, to give the French a wallop.
1836. [Hooton], Bilberry Thurland, II. viii. 146. I took up a walking-stick, and says to her, ‘Here, Kitty; lay hold of this, and fetch me a great whollop on this soft head of mine.’
1838. Bentley’s Misc., III. 459. To each blow of the brass weapon, Sam returned a wallop of a pewter vessel.
1884. D. Grant, Lays & Leg. North (1908), 103. Thus Davie cud the kelpie guide, Wi’ mony a wallop on his hide.
1914. Varsity, 24 Feb., 15/2. (Boxing) His opponent … has a prodigious ‘wallop,’ but no great amount of skill.
b. dial. (Sc.) A (violent) beat of the heart or of the pulse.
1787. Burns, Addr. Unco Guid, iv. Think, when your castigated pulse Gies now and then a wallop, What ragings must his veins convulse, That still eternal gallop.
1824. Mactaggart, Gallov. Encycl., 484. I thought it [my heart] wad hae jumped clean out o’ my brisket; lord! what wallops it gaed.
5. A flapping or fluttering rag. Sc.
1776. C. Keith, Farmer’s Ha’, xxxiv. Beggars they come in gelore, Wi’ wallops flapping in great store.
1866. Gregor, Banffsh. Gloss., Wallop, a rag hanging loose and fluttering.
