▪ I. whizzing, vbl. n.
(ˈhwɪzɪŋ)
[f. whizz v. + -ing1.]
1. a. The action or sound denoted by whizz.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 11 Of the Cynocephale or Baboun... Their voyce is a shrill whizing. 1631 J. Anchoran Comenius' Gate Tongues 110 For feare the hinges should make some noyse (or whizzing). 1710 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) VI. 623 His horse, being frighted by the whizzing of a cannon ball, threw him. 1797 T. Morton Cure for Heartache i. ii, Such a whizzing and spinning in my head. 1832 H. Martineau Manch. Strike vi. 65 The incessant whizzing and whirling of the wheels. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., She complain'd of such a whuzzing in her ears. 1884 W. S. B. M{supc}Laren Spinning (ed. 2) 49 The whizzing in the hydro-extractor is sufficient. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 818 Whizzings in the head..are complained of. |
b. attrib. whizzing-stick = whizzer a.
| 1890 Amer. Anthrop. III. 258 The ‘whizzing-stick’ or ‘bull-roarer’ on the West Coast of Africa. |
2. Pick-pocketing. slang.
| 1925 N. Lucas Autobiogr. Crook vii. 98 My pals went in for every known form of getting other people's property... ‘Drumming’, ‘parlor jumping’, ‘whizzing’. 1941 V. Davis Phenomena in Crime xv. 209 Nearly all classes of ‘whizzing’ take place on the ‘shove-up’ principle. |
▪ II. ˈwhizzing, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
1. a. That whizzes: see the verb.
| 1589 A. F. Virg. Bucol. vii. 1 Daphnis..sat him downe vnder a whizzing holme. 1592 R. D. Hypnerotomachia (1890) 3 A stopping hinderance to their current and whuzing fall. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xx. 231 When the whizzing Bels the silent ayre doe cleaue. 1638 W. Lisle Heliodorus ix. 152 A whizzing cloud of arrowes dimd the Sun. a 1769 Falconer Shipwr. iii. 734 My stun'd ear tingles to the whizzing tide. 1812 H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., Tale Drury Lane 165 Still o'er his head, while Fate he braved, His whizzing water-pipe he waived. 1840 Thackeray Paris Sk.-bk. xix. (1869) 284 A whizzing, screaming steam engine. 1870 Thornbury Tour rd. Eng. I. ii. 27 [We] sweep on with whizzing wheels past broad nursery gardens. |
b. Of a sound: Of the nature of a whizz.
| 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 183 The heauens shall passe away, with a whizzing tempestuous noyse. 1664 S. Taylor in Evelyn's Pomona 50 Which evaporates with a sparkling and whizzing noise. 1748 tr. Vegetius Renatus' Distempers Horses 183 He makes a whizzing Noise in his Breast. 1829 Good Study Med. (ed. 3) I. 563 Whizzing voice. The voice accompanied with a whizzing or hissing sound. 1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 232/2 A peculiar whizzing sound,..perceptible on applying..a stethoscope to the tumour. 1891 Smiles Mem. J. Murray xx. II. 3 A whizzing sound in his ears. |
2. Excellent, ‘smashing’. slang.
| 1953 [see knock-out n. 4]. 1959 [see whizz-bang a.]. |
Hence ˈwhizzingly adv.
| In recent Dicts. |