whistle
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English whistel, whistil, whistle, from Old English hwistle, from the verb (see below).
Inflected forms:
form: whistles
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: whistles
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: whistling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: whistled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: whistled
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A device designed to be placed in the mouth and blown, or driven by steam or some other mechanism, to make a whistling sound.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: A lovely crisp exhaust: a feeling of almost unlimited power combined with complete freedom of running: and, to crown it all, a most melodious and wholly American chime whistle—these were my immediate impressions as we stormed rapidly out of Göttingen, intent on winning back some of the lost time.
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.
[...] and Temple station, which had to have a very modestly proportioned station building on the insistence of the Duke of Norfolk who owned the land on which it was built, and where the trains under the glass roof of the station were not allowed to blow their whistles, at the insistence of the barristers in the nearby Inns of Court.
gloss: An act of whistling.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A shrill, high-pitched sound made by whistling.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine.[…]As we reached the lodge we heard the whistle, and we backed up against one side of the platform as the train pulled up at the other.
gloss: Any high-pitched sound similar to the sound made by whistling.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: the whistle of the wind in the trees
gloss: A suit (from whistle and flute).
pos: noun
tags: Cockney
countable
slang
uncountable
examples: We soldiers changed into our No.1 dress uniforms, Sid into his best whistle and we set off for the church.
gloss: The mouth and throat; so called as being the organs of whistling.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
countable
uncountable
examples: Let's […] drink the other cup to wet our whistles.
gloss: 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.
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
examples: Never whistle at a funeral.
He was whistling a happy tune.
gloss: To make a similar sound by forcing air through a musical instrument or a pipe etc.
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
examples: 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.
gloss: To move in such a way as to create a whistling sound.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: A bullet whistled past.
gloss: To send, signal, or call by a whistle.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To request admission to Opus Dei, a Roman Catholic organization.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
slang
Related words: Whistle in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
Translations:
lang: Armenian
word: սուլոց
roman: sulocʻ
lang: Assamese
word: সুহুৰি
roman: xuhuri
lang: Assamese
word: উকি
roman: uki
lang: Breton
word: c'hwitelladenn
lang: Breton
word: c'hwitelladennoù
lang: Catalan
word: xiulada
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 口哨
roman: kǒushào
lang: Danish
word: fløjt
lang: Danish
word: pift
lang: Dutch
word: fluittoon
lang: Esperanto
word: fajfo
lang: Finnish
word: vihellys
lang: Finnish
word: vislaus
lang: French
word: sifflet
lang: French
word: sifflement
lang: French
word: sifflements
lang: Galician
word: asubío
lang: Georgian
word: სტვენა
roman: sṭvena
lang: German
word: Pfeifen
lang: German
word: Pfiff
lang: Greek
word: σφύριγμα
roman: sfýrigma
lang: Greek
word: σφυριξιά
roman: sfyrixiá
lang: Hindi
word: सीटी
roman: sīṭī
lang: Hungarian
word: füttyszó
lang: Indonesian
word: siulan
lang: Italian
word: fischio
lang: Japanese
word: 口笛
roman: kuchibue
lang: Korean
word: 휘파람
roman: hwiparam
lang: Latvian
word: svilpiens
lang: Lithuanian
word: švilpimas
lang: Malay
word: siulan
lang: Malayalam
word: ചൂളം
roman: cūḷaṁ
lang: Marathi
word: शिटी
roman: śiṭī
lang: Polish
word: gwizd
lang: Portuguese
word: apito
lang: Portuguese
word: assobio
lang: Portuguese
word: assovio
lang: Romanian
word: fluierat
lang: Russian
word: свист
roman: svist
lang: Russian
word: свисто́к
roman: svistók
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: fead
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: зви̏ждӯк
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: zvȉždūk
lang: Slovak
word: hvizd
lang: Southern Altai
word: сыгырт
roman: sïgïrt
lang: Spanish
word: silbato
lang: Spanish
word: pitido
lang: Spanish
word: chiflido
lang: Spanish
word: pitada
lang: Spanish
word: chifla
lang: Spanish
word: chifle
lang: Spanish
word: rechifla
lang: Swedish
word: vissling
lang: Thai
word: เสียงผิวปาก
lang: Ukrainian
word: свист
roman: svyst
lang: Ukrainian
word: свисто́к
roman: svystók
lang: Ukrainian
word: сюрчо́к
roman: sjurčók
lang: Urdu
word: سیٹی
roman: sīṭī
lang: Venetan
word: fis-cio
lang: Welsh
word: chwiban
lang: Welsh
word: chwibaniad