whistle

English

Etymology

Middle English whistlen; Old English hwistlan.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /wɪsl̩/, SAMPA: /wIsl=/
• Rhymes: -ɪsəl

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

whistle (plural whistles)

1. A device designed to be placed in the mouth in order to make a whistling sound.
2. An act of whistling.
3. A shrill, high-pitched sound made by whistling.
4. Any high-pitched sound similar to the sound made by whistling.
5. (Cockney rhyming slang) A suit (from whistle and flute).
   • 2005, Wally Payne, A Minority of One: A Monkey's Tale Continued

     We soldiers changed into our No.1 dress uniforms, Sid into his best whistle and we set off for the church.

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun whistle

bells and whistles clean as a whistle‎ it's not the whistle that pulls the train

wet one's whistle whistle-blower whistle pig

whistle-stop whistle walk

Translations

device used to make a whistling sound

Afrikaans: fluit (af) Albanian: fishkëllimë (sq) f. Armenian: սուլիչ (hy) (sulič) Azeri: fit (az) Breton: c'hwitell (br) f., c'hwitelloù (br) pl. Bulgarian: свирка (bg) (svirka) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 哨子 (cmn) (shàozi), 口哨 (cmn) (kǒushào), 口笛 (cmn) (kǒudí) Croatian: zviždaljka (hr) f. Danish: fløjte (da) c. Dutch: fluitje (nl) n. Finnish: pilli (fi) French: sifflet (fr) German: Pfeife (de) f., Trillerpfeife (de) f. Haitian Creole: siflèt Hungarian: síp (hu) Irish: feadóg (ga) f. Italian: fischietto (it) m.

Japanese: 笛 (ja) (ふえ, fue), ホイッスル (ja) (hoissuru), 口笛 (ja) (くちぶえ, kuchibue) Khmer: កញ្ចែ (km) (kanh jeh) Latvian: svilpe (lv) f. Luxembourgish: Päif (lb) f. Meru: thirimbi Polish: gwizdek (pl) m. Portuguese: apito (pt) m. Romanian: fluier (ro) n. Russian: свисток (ru) (svistók) m. Scottish Gaelic: feadag (gd) f., feadan (gd) m. Serbian: pištaljka (sr) f., zviždaljka (sr) f., zviždalica f., pištalica f. Spanish: chifle (es) m., pito (es) m., silbato (es) m. Swahili: kipenga (sw), firimbi (sw), filimbi (sw) Swedish: vissla (sv) c., pipa (sv) c., visselpipa (sv) c. Tagalog: sipol (tl), pito (tl) Turkish: ıslık (tr) Ukrainian: свист (uk) (svyst) m., свисток (uk) (svystok) m. Vietnamese: còi (vi), tiếng hót (vi), tiếng huýt (vi)

act of whistling

Chinese: Mandarin: 口哨 (cmn) (kǒushào), 口笛 (cmn) (kǒudí) German: Pfeifen (de) n. Hebrew: שריקה (he) (sh'riká) f. Japanese: 口笛 (ja) (くちぶえ, kuchibue)

Latvian: svilpošana (lv) f. Russian: свисток (ru) (svistók) m., свист (ru) (svist) m. Serbo-Croatian: Latin: zvižduk (sh) m. Swedish: vissling (sv) c.

sound made by whistling

Armenian: սուլոց (hy) (suloc’) Breton: c'hwitelladenn (br) f., c'hwitelladennoù (br) pl. Croatian: zvižduk (hr) m. Danish: fløjt (da) n. Dutch: fluittoon (nl) m. Finnish: vihellys (fi), vislaus (fi) French: sifflement (fr) m., sifflements (fr) m. pl. German: Pfeifen (de) n., Pfiff (de) m. Hungarian: füttyszó (hu) Italian: fischio (it) m.

Japanese: 口笛 (ja) (くちぶえ, kuchibue) Polish: gwizd (pl) m. Portuguese: apito (pt) m., assobio (pt) m., assovio (pt) m. Romanian: fluierat (ro) n. Russian: свист (ru) (svist) m. Scottish Gaelic: fead (gd) f. Spanish: silbato (es) m., pitido (es) m., chiflido (es) m., pitada (es) f. Swahili: kipenga (sw) Swedish: vissling (sv) c.

sound similar to the sound made by whistling

Breton: c'hwitelladenn (br) f., c'hwitelladennoù (br) pl. Croatian: zvižduk m. Danish: fløjt (da) n. Dutch: fluittoon m. Finnish: vihellys (fi) German: Pfeifen (de) n., Pfiff (de) m. Hungarian: sípszó

Polish: gwizd m. Portuguese: apito m., assobio m. Russian: свист (ru) (svist) m. Scottish Gaelic: fead (gd) f. Spanish: silbato (es) m., pito (es) m., pitido (es) Swahili: kipenga (sw) Swedish: vissling (sv) c.

slang: a suit — see suit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: صفارة (ʂufára) f. Catalan: xiulet m. Mandarin: 口哨 (kǒushào) French: sifflet m. Indonesian: peluit

Italian: fischietto, fischio Korean: 호르라기 (horeuragi) Swahili: kipenga Telugu: ఈల (eela), బూర (boora)

Verb

whistle (third-person singular simple present whistles, present participle whistling, simple past and past participle whistled)

1. 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.
2. To move in such a way as to create a whistling sound.

   A bullet whistled past.

Derived terms

Terms derived from the verb whistle

whistle Dixie

whistle in the dark

whistle past the graveyard

Translations

to produce a whistling sound

Armenian: սուլել (hy) (sulel) Breton: c'hwitellat (br) Chinese: Mandarin: 吹口哨 (cmn) (chuī kǒushào), 鳴笛 (cmn), 鸣笛 (cmn) (míngdí) Crimean Tatar: sızğırmaq Czech: pískat (cs) Danish: fløjte (da), hvisle (da) Dutch: fluiten (nl) Esperanto: fajfi (eo) Finnish: viheltää (fi) French: siffler (fr) German: pfeifen (de) Hungarian: fütyül (hu) Interlingua: sibilar (ia)

Irish: lig fead Japanese: 口笛を吹く (ja) (くちぶえをふく, kuchibue-o fuku) Khmer: ហួច (km) (houch) Latvian: svilpt (lv) Polish: gwizdać, świstać Portuguese: assobiar (pt), assoviar (pt) Romanian: fluiera (ro), șuiera (ro) Russian: свистеть (ru) (svistét’) impf., свистнуть (ru) (svístnut’) pf. Scottish Gaelic: dèan fead (gd), fead (gd) Serbian: zvižduk (sr) m. Spanish: silbar (es), chiflar (es), pitar (es) Swahili: kipenga (sw) Swedish: vissla (sv)

to move is such a way as to make a whistling sound

Breton: c'hwitellat (br) Danish: hvisle (da) Dutch: fluiten (nl) Finnish: viheltää (fi) Hungarian: fütyül (hu), sivít (hu)

Russian: свистеть (ru) (svistét’) impf., просвистеть (ru) (prosvistét’) pf. Serbian: zviždanje (sr), zviždati (sr) Swahili: kipenga (sw) Swedish: vissla (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Catalan: xiular Serbo-Croatian: zviždati Esperanto: fajfi Indonesian: bersiul

Portuguese: apitar, assobiar Spanish: chiflar, silbar Telugu: ఈల వేయు (eela vEyu), బూర ఊదు (boora oodu)

See also

• Whistle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• whistle in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.