WHISTLING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does whistling mean? 

• WHISTLING (noun)
  The noun WHISTLING has 3 senses:

1. the sound made by something moving rapidly or by steam coming out of a small aperture

2. the act of whistling a tune

3. the act of signalling (e.g., summoning) by whistling or blowing a whistle

  Familiarity information: WHISTLING used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WHISTLING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The sound made by something moving rapidly or by steam coming out of a small aperture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

whistle; whistling

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

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Derivation:

whistle (make a whining, ringing, or whistling sound)

whistle (make whistling sounds)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of whistling a tune

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

his cheerful whistling indicated that he enjoyed his work

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

music (musical activity (singing or whistling etc.))

Derivation:

whistle (utter or express by whistling)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of signalling (e.g., summoning) by whistling or blowing a whistle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

whistle; whistling

Context example:

the whistle signalled the end of the game

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

sign; signal; signaling (any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message)

Derivation:

whistle (give a signal by whistling)

 Context examples 

One of them was whistling “Lillibullero.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The whip was whistling savagely, when once more Mercedes interfered.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

But the prince all the time slept so soundly, that her voice only passed over him, and seemed like the whistling of the wind among the fir-trees.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Below, as I stood whistling for a cab, a man came on me through the fog.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She told her story, expecting to be consoled, but Laurie only put his hands in his pockets and walked about the room, whistling softly, as he knit his brows in deep thought.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

So distrait was he and so random his answers, that the woodman took to whistling, and soon branched off upon the track to Burley, leaving Alleyne upon the main Christchurch road.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Irvine thrust between his lips the little finger of each hand and lent to her efforts a shrill whistling.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The airways become inflamed and narrow, causing difficult breathing, wheezing (a whistling sound while breathing), tightness in the chest, and coughing.

(Infant Exposure to Allergens May Help Prevent Wheezing, NIH)

But now, as the two monsters hounded us to the very foot of the stairs, a drift of darts came whistling from every chink in the cliff above them.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)