wheeple, v. Sc. and north. dial.
(ˈhwiːp(ə)l)
[Imitative.]
intr. To utter a somewhat protracted shrill cry, like the curlew or plover; also, to whistle feebly (intr. and trans.). So wheeple n.
| 1793 Statist. Acc. Scot. VII. 601 note, I wad na' gie the wheeple of a whaup for a the nightingales that ever sang. 1818 Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck, Hunt of Eildon v, Like Redwings wheepling through the mist. a 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 284 We've a' been heathens—now we pray, And sing and wheeple. 1901 G. Douglas Ho. w. Gr. Shutters 80 He sometimes wheepled a tune. |