WHIZ (whizzed, whizzes, whizzing)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: whizzed    , whizzes    , whizzing   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does whiz mean? 

• WHIZ (noun)
  The noun WHIZ has 2 senses:

1. someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field

2. a buzzing or hissing sound as of something traveling rapidly through the air

  Familiarity information: WHIZ used as a noun is rare.

• WHIZ (verb)
  The verb WHIZ has 1 sense:

1. make a soft swishing sound

  Familiarity information: WHIZ used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WHIZ (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

ace; adept; champion; genius; hotshot; maven; mavin; sensation; star; superstar; virtuoso; whiz; whizz; wiz; wizard

Hypernyms ("whiz" is a kind of...):

expert (a person with special knowledge or ability who performs skillfully)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "whiz"):

track star (a star runner)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A buzzing or hissing sound as of something traveling rapidly through the air

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

he heard the whiz of bullets near his head

Hypernyms ("whiz" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Derivation:

whiz (make a soft swishing sound)

• WHIZ (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they whiz    ... he / she / it whizes    / whizzes   
Past simple: whized    / whizzed   
Past participle: whized    / whizzed   
-ing form: whizing    / whizzing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a soft swishing sound

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

birr; purr; whir; whirr; whiz; whizz

Context example:

the car engine purred

Hypernyms (to "whiz" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

whiz (a buzzing or hissing sound as of something traveling rapidly through the air)

 Context examples 

Another from the Norman whizzed into the waist, broke the back of a horse, and crashed its way through the side of the vessel.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As I passed the corner which leads from Bentinck Street on to the Welbeck Street crossing a two-horse van furiously driven whizzed round and was on me like a flash.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then suddenly out of the whizzing, slate-colored circle a long neck shot out, and a fierce beak made a thrust at us.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We had got fairly abreast of them now, the rumps of the horses exactly a-line and the fore wheels whizzing together.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was a strange, loud whiz and a long, silvery tinkle of broken glass.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The unnecessary noise he made (I had lain wide-eyed the whole night) must have awakened one of the hunters; for a heavy shoe whizzed through the semi-darkness, and Mr. Mugridge, with a sharp howl of pain, humbly begged everybody’s pardon.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The chargers spun round each other, biting and striking, while the two blades wheeled and whizzed and circled in gleams of dazzling light.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There’s something throbbing in my head now, like a docker’s hammer, but that morning I seemed to have all Niagara whizzing and buzzing in my ears.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then, the flight grew lower and the circle narrower, until they were whizzing round and round us, the dry, rustling flap of their huge slate-colored wings filling the air with a volume of sound that made me think of Hendon aerodrome upon a race day.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Again he whizzed in a blow which made the spectators hold their breath, and again Alleyne very quickly and swiftly slipped from under it, and sent back two lightning thrusts which the other could scarce parry.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)