whisperer
(ˈhwɪspərə(r))
[f. as prec. + -er1.]
One who whispers.
1. One who speaks in a whisper.
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 79 b, The Crane by proper name should be called whisperer, or flackerer. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 148 ¶4 Next to these Bawlers, is a troublesome Creature who comes with the Air of.. your Intimate, and that is your Whisperer. 1740 Richardson Pamela (1785) II. 375 As we walk'd up the Church..we had abundance of Gazers and Whisperers. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic ix. 225 Where the whisperer is in the focus of one reflecting surface, and the hearer in the focus of another. 1876 J. Saunders Lion in Path v, ‘Hush’, exclaims one of the whisperers to his neighbour. |
b. An appellation for certain celebrated horse-breakers, said to have obtained obedience by whispering to the horses.
| 1810 H. Townsend Stat. Surv. Co. Cork 439 He was an awkward, ignorant rustic.., his name James Sullivan, but better known by the appellation of the whisperer,..from a vulgar notion of his being able to communicate to the animal what he wished, by means of a whisper. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xv, One who is an expert whisperer and horse-sorcerer. |
2. One who communicates something quietly or secretly; esp. a secret slanderer or tale-bearer.
| 1547–50 Bauldwin Mor. Philos. ii. L iij, Caste whysperers and tale bearers, out of thy company. 1611 Bible Prov. xvi. 28 A whisperer separateth chiefe friends. 1675 Temple Let. to King Wks. 1731 II. 328 The Whisperers of this Story. 1707 Nash in Goldsm. Life (1762) 33 Whisperers of lies and scandal. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 180 ¶10 The most officious of the whisperers of greatness. 1819 Keats Otho iv. i, Whisperers..Hungry for evidence to ruin me. 1876 Besant & Rice Golden Butterfly xviii, To be a Great Man's whisperer is a position coveted by many. |