To whoop means to shout or yell loudly with excitement, joy, or enthusiasm. When your team scores the winning goal, you might whoop with delight. When a class learns they're getting an extra recess, kids often whoop and cheer together.

A whoop is a specific kind of shout: loud, sudden, and full of energy. It's not a scream of fear or a cry of sadness. It's the sound of pure excitement bursting out of you. You might hear someone whoop when they open a birthday present they've been hoping for, or when they find out school is canceled due to snow.

The word can also be a noun: a single loud shout of excitement is called a whoop. Picture a roller coaster reaching the top of a huge drop: you'll probably hear whoops of excitement as it plunges down.

The phrase whoop it up means to celebrate noisily and joyfully, like when a winning sports team whoops it up in the locker room after a championship game.