whine

English

Etymology

From Middle English hwinen, whinen, from Old English hwīnan (“to rush, to whizz, to squeal, to whine”) from Proto-Germanic *hwīnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwey- (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”). Cognate with Old Norse hvína, whence Icelandic hvína, Norwegian hvine, Swedish hvina and Danish hvine.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wīn, IPA: /waɪn/, X-SAMPA: /waIn/
• Rhymes: -aɪn
• Homophone: wine (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

whine (plural whines)

1. a long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound
   • 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, The Onion AV Club:

     The 18-year-old Bieber can’t quite pull off the “adult” thing just yet: His voice may have dropped a bit since the days of “Baby,” but it still mostly registers as “angelic,” and veers toward a pubescent whine at times.

2. a complaint or criticism

Translations

a long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound

• Danish: hvin (da) n
• Dutch: zeuren (nl), huilen (nl), jammeren (nl)
• Finnish: ulvonta (fi)
• French: pleurnicherie (fr) f
• German: Jaulen (de) n, Heulen (de) n, Jammern (de) n

• Norwegian: hvin (no) n, hyl (no) n
• Persian: فغان (fa) (faqān), ناله (fa) (nāla(e))
• Russian: вой (ru) (voj)
• Spanish: gimoteo (es) m, lloriqueo (es) m
• Turkish: inilti (tr), inleyiş (tr), inleme (tr), sızlanma (tr)

Verb

whine (third-person singular simple present whines, present participle whining, simple past and past participle whined)

1. (intransitive) To utter a high-pitched cry.
2. (intransitive) To make a sound resembling such a cry.

   The jet engines whined at take off.

3. (intransitive) To complain or protest with a whine or as if with a whine.
4. (intransitive) To move with a whining sound.

   The jet whined into the air.

5. (transitive) To utter with the sound of a whine.

   The child whined all his complaints.

   Kelly Queen was whining that the boss made him put on his tie.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:complain

Translations

to utter a whine

• Czech: kňourat (cs)
• Danish: hvine (da)
• Finnish: ulvoa (fi)
• French: couiner (fr)
• German: jaulen (de), heulen (de), jammern (de)
• Hungarian: siránkozik (hu)
• Italian: piagnucolare (it)

• Jèrriais: braithe, houinner
• Norwegian: hvine (no), hyle (no)
• Persian: نالیدن (fa) (nālidan)
• Portuguese: reclamar (pt)
• Russian: выть (ru) (vytʹ), завывать (ru) (zavyvatʹ)
• Spanish: gimotear (es), lloriquear (es) m
• Turkish: inlemek (tr)

to complain or protest in a childish manner or about trivial things

• Dutch: zeuren (nl)
• Finnish: kitistä (fi), vinkua (fi)
• French: pleurnicher (fr), geindre (fr)
• German: jaulen (de), heulen (de), jammern (de), quengeln (de)
• Hungarian: vinnyog (hu)

• Norwegian: sutre (no), syte (no), jamre (no)
• Persian: نق زدن (fa) (neq zadan)
• Portuguese: birra (pt)
• Russian: плакаться (ru) (plakatʹsja), скулить (ru) (skulitʹ)
• Spanish: gimotear (es), lloriquear (es) m