Crossword Genius

Whip it off head, showing spiteful quality (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cattiness

'spiteful quality' is the definition.
(I know this)

'whip it off head' is the wordplay.
'whip' becomes 'cat' (cat o' nine tails, cat for short is a type of whip).
'off' is an anagram indicator.
'head' becomes 'ness' (ness is a headland).
'it' is an anagram of 'ti'.
'cat'+'ti'+'ness'='CATTINESS'

'showing' is the link.

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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