What does whistle mean?

whistle means "make whistling sounds". That is the primary sense; the word has 11 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in whistle?

whistle has 2 syllables: whis-tle. The stress falls on "whis". In IPA it is /ˈwɪsəl/.

What is another word for whistle?

Close synonyms include sing, whistling, whistling, pennywhistle, tin whistle. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is whistle a common word?

whistle is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

whistle — meaning, pronunciation and 11 definitions

verb

6 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
make whistling sounds
“He lay there, snoring and whistling”
Broadersound
2.
move with, or as with, a whistling sound
“The bullets whistled past him”
Broadertravel
3.
utter or express by whistling
“She whistled a melody”
Broadercommunicate
4.
move, send, or bring as if by whistling
“Her optimism whistled away these worries”
Broadermove
5.
make a whining, ringing, or whistling sound
“the kettle was singing”
“the bullet sang past his ear”
Synonymssing
Broadersound
6.
give a signal by whistling
“She whistled for her maid”
Broadersign

noun

5 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
the sound made by something moving rapidly or by steam coming out of a small aperture
Synonymswhistling
Broadersound
2.
the act of signalling (e.g., summoning) by whistling or blowing a whistle
“the whistle signalled the end of the game”
Synonymswhistling
Broadersignal
3.
a small wind instrument that produces a whistling sound by blowing into it
Broaderwind instrument
4.
acoustic device that forces air or steam against an edge or into a cavity and so produces a loud shrill sound
Broaderacoustic device signaling device
Narrowerboat whistle factory whistle steam whistle
5.
an inexpensive fipple flute
Synonymspennywhistle tin whistle
Broaderfipple flute

Other forms of whistle

plural: whistles·
past tense: whistled·
present participle: whistling·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about whistle

What does whistle mean?: whistle means "make whistling sounds". That is the primary sense; the word has 11 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in whistle?: whistle has 2 syllables: whis-tle. The stress falls on "whis". In IPA it is /ˈwɪsəl/.
What is another word for whistle?: Close synonyms include sing, whistling, whistling, pennywhistle, tin whistle. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is whistle a common word?: whistle is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for whistle come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

verb

6 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
make whistling sounds
“He lay there, snoring and whistling”
Broadersound
2.
move with, or as with, a whistling sound
“The bullets whistled past him”
Broadertravel
3.
utter or express by whistling
“She whistled a melody”
Broadercommunicate
4.
move, send, or bring as if by whistling
“Her optimism whistled away these worries”
Broadermove
5.
make a whining, ringing, or whistling sound
“the kettle was singing”
“the bullet sang past his ear”
Synonymssing
Broadersound
6.
give a signal by whistling
“She whistled for her maid”
Broadersign

noun

5 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
the sound made by something moving rapidly or by steam coming out of a small aperture
Synonymswhistling
Broadersound
2.
the act of signalling (e.g., summoning) by whistling or blowing a whistle
“the whistle signalled the end of the game”
Synonymswhistling
Broadersignal
3.
a small wind instrument that produces a whistling sound by blowing into it
Broaderwind instrument
4.
acoustic device that forces air or steam against an edge or into a cavity and so produces a loud shrill sound
Broaderacoustic device signaling device
Narrowerboat whistle factory whistle steam whistle
5.
an inexpensive fipple flute
Synonymspennywhistle tin whistle
Broaderfipple flute

Other forms of whistle

plural: whistles·
past tense: whistled·
present participle: whistling·

Questions about whistle

What does whistle mean?: whistle means "make whistling sounds". That is the primary sense; the word has 11 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in whistle?: whistle has 2 syllables: whis-tle. The stress falls on "whis". In IPA it is /ˈwɪsəl/.
What is another word for whistle?: Close synonyms include sing, whistling, whistling, pennywhistle, tin whistle. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is whistle a common word?: whistle is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

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verb

noun

Other forms of whistle

Questions about whistle

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whistle

verb

noun

Other forms of whistle

Questions about whistle