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whistle

noun
/ˈwɪs(ə)l/

Etymology

From Middle English whistlen, from Old English hwistlan, hwistlian (“to whistle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwistlōn, from Proto-Germanic *hwistlōną (“to make a hissing sound”). Cognate with Swedish vissla (“to whistle”), Icelandic hvísla (“to whisper”), Russian свистеть (svistetʹ, “to whistle”).

  1. inherited from *hwistlōną✻ — “to make a hissing sound”
  2. inherited from *hwistlōn✻
  3. inherited from hwistlan
  4. inherited from whistlen

Definitions

  1. A device designed to be placed in the mouth and blown, or driven by steam or some other…

    A device designed to be placed in the mouth and blown, or driven by steam or some other mechanism, to make a whistling sound.

    • One thing I took great care to observe was obedience to the "whistle" boards which crop up with great frequency, for failure to sound the whistle, if observed by the gendarmerie, can bring about serious consequences.

  2. An act of whistling.

  3. A shrill, high-pitched sound made by whistling.

  4. ›+ 8 more definitions

    1. Any high-pitched sound similar to the sound made by whistling.

      • the whistle of the wind in the trees

    2. A suit (from whistle and flute).

      • We soldiers changed into our No.1 dress uniforms, Sid into his best whistle and we set off for the church.

    3. The mouth and throat

      The mouth and throat; so called as being the organs of whistling.

      • Let's […] drink the other cup to wet our whistles.

    4. To make a shrill, high-pitched sound by forcing air through the mouth. To produce a…

      To make a shrill, high-pitched sound by forcing air through the mouth. To produce a whistling sound, restrictions to the flow of air are created using the teeth, tongue and lips.

      • Never whistle at a funeral.
      • He was whistling a happy tune.

    5. To make a similar sound by forcing air through a musical instrument or a pipe etc.

      • The steam train whistled as it passed by.
      • It requires quite an orchestra to get a train to start; the guard blows his horn, the stationmaster rings a large bell, and the engine whistles.

    6. To move in such a way as to create a whistling sound.

      • A bullet whistled past.

    7. To send, signal, or call by a whistle.

    8. To request admission to Opus Dei, a Roman Catholic organization.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for whistle. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA