\Whip"ple*tree`\, n. [See {Whip}, and cf.
{Whiffletree}.]
1. The pivoted or swinging bar to which the traces, or tugs,
   of a harness are fastened, and by which a carriage, a
   plow, or other implement or vehicle, is drawn; a
   whiffletree; a swingletree; a singletree. See
   {Singletree}.

         [People] cut their own whippletree in the woodlot.
                                               --Emerson.

2. (Bot.) The cornel tree. --Chaucer.