whiffle
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
1662, in sense “flutter as blown by wind”,[1] as whiff + -le (“(frequentative)”) and (onomatopoeia) sound of wind, particularly a leaf fluttering in unsteady wind; compare whiff. Sense “something small or insignificant” is from 1680.[1]
Pronunciation
Noun
whiffle (plural whiffles)
- A short blow or gust.
- (obsolete) Something small or insignificant; a trifle.
- (obsolete) A fife or small flute.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Douce to this entry?)
Verb
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- To blow a short gust.
- To waffle, talk aimlessly.
- (British) To waste time.
- To travel quickly with an accompanying wind-like sound; whizz, whistle along.
- (ornithology, of a bird) To descend rapidly from a height once the decision to land has been made, involving fast side-slipping first one way and then the other.
- (intransitive) To waver, or shake, as if moved by gusts of wind; to shift, turn, or veer about.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Dampier to this entry?)
- (transitive) To wave or shake quickly; to cause to whiffle.
- To change from one opinion or course to another; to use evasions; to prevaricate; to be fickle.
- I. Watts
- A person of whiffling and unsteady turn of mind cannot keep close to a point of controversy.
- I. Watts
- To disperse with, or as with, a whiff, or puff; to scatter.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Dr. H. More to this entry?)
Derived terms
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “whiffle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms suffixed with -le
- English onomatopoeias
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɪfəl
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- Requests for quotations/Douce
- British English
- en:Ornithology
- English intransitive verbs
- Requests for quotations/Dampier
- English transitive verbs
- Requests for quotations/Dr. H. More