▪ I. whine, n.
(hwaɪn)
[f. next.]
An act of whining; a low somewhat shrill protracted cry, usually expressive of pain or distress; a suppressed nasal tone, as of feeble, mean, or undignified complaint; a complaint uttered in this tone. Also transf. a sound resembling this.
| 1633 P. Fletcher Pisc. Ecl. i. xxii, The whistling windes joyn'd with the seas to plain, And o're his boat in whines lamenting creep. 1691 South Serm., 1 John iii. 21 (1697) II. 470 By a few demure Looks, and affected Whines, set off with some odd, devotional Postures and Grimaces. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 133 ¶2 The whine of condolance, or the growl of anger. 1808 Scott Marm. iv. Introd. 70 With dejected look and whine, To leave the hearth his dogs repine. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. i. (1869) 17 A peevish whine in his voice like a beaten schoolboy. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxix. (1856) 244 The low whine which the ice gives out when we cut it at right angles with a sharp knife. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 623 The child utters a short cry or whine. 1928 E. Wallace Double xx. 295 They heard the whine of a car draw up on the ground below. 1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 143 The air pulsed with..the whine and clang of the saw. 1962 Which? Car Suppl. Oct. 127/2 Other noises of which our drivers complained were rear axle whine in all the cars. |
▪ II. whine, v.
(hwaɪn)
Forms: 1 hwinan, 4–7 whyne, 5–6 wyne, 6 Sc. quhyn, (7 wheen), 8 wine, 4– whine.
[OE. hw{iacu}nan (only in W{iacu}ds{iacu}ð 128, of the whizzing of an arrow) = ON. hv{iacu}na (Sw. hvina, Da. hvine) to whiz, whistle in the air; the weak grade of the stem is represented in ON. hvinr whiz, late OE. hwinsian (of dogs) to whine (see whinge).]
1. intr. To utter a low somewhat shrill protracted sound or cry, usually expressive of pain or distress; to cry in a subdued plaintive tone: also occasionally merely referring to the tone. a. of persons.
| c 1275 Sinners Beware 310 in O.E. Misc. 82 For chele hy gunne hwyne. For hunger hi hedde pyne. 13.. in Rel. Ant. II. 245 Ich rede tha come nou to me, anaunter last ha whyne. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 158 Not chauntyng nor brekyng your notes, nor whynynge in y⊇ nose as many women done. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. ii. Wks. 1182/2 Yet canne thys peuyshe gyrl neuer ceace whining and pulyng for fear. c 1590 J. Stewart Poems (S.T.S.) II. 54 Scho quhyns, Scho schrinks, Scho vreyis, Scho vips for vo. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xiii. 101 Whip him..Till like a Boy you see him crindge his face, And whine aloud for mercy. a 1654 Selden Table-T. (Arb.) 92 If a Man should make love in an ordinary Tone, his Mistress would not regard him; and therefore he must whine. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, To Whine, to cry squeekingly, as at Conventicles. 1727 Gay Begg. Op. i. xiii, The Boy thus, when his Sparrow's flown,..Whines, whimpers, sobs and cries. 1852 Thackeray Esmond ii. xiii, The crowd of beggars..whining for alms. 1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women viii, You can't go, Amy; so don't be a baby and whine about it. |
b. of animals, esp. dogs; also formerly, to whinny as a horse, or to cry as an otter.
| 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 1336 Þe helmes þai seyen briȝt schine, Þe stedes nyen, and togider whine. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 386 As an hors I koude byte and whyne [v.r. whine]. c 1400 Beryn 481 He..scrapid the dorr welplich, & wynyd with his mowith, Aftir a doggis lyden. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxiv. (Arb.) 97, I saide I was also hongry, thenne wente we..and fond nothyng, tho whyned he and cryed. 1576 Turberv. Venerie 238 An Otter whineth. 1577 Whetstone Gascoigne xxix, The horse..will neither winch nor whine. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 2 Thrice the brinded Cat hath mew'd..Thrice, and once the Hedge-Pigge whin'd. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 118 Let each Lash Bite to the Quick, 'till howling he return And whining creep amid the trembling Crowd. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. Song ‘Good Night’ ix, Perchance my dog will whine in vain, Till fed by stranger hands. 1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies 272 Occasionally a scoundrel wolf would scour off..and..sit down and howl and whine. |
c. transf. of inanimate objects.
| 1874 J. G. Holland Mistr. Manse xviii. 52 Till the old chimney howled and whined. 1885 Tennyson Balin & Balan 341 The canker'd boughs..Whined in the wood. 1901 Munsey's Mag. XXIV. 555/1 The bullets..whined through the air. 1962 Which? Car Suppl. Oct. 140/1 Engine always whined when started from cold. 1972 Daily Tel. 16 May 9 Two minutes after the jet engines whine to a standstill she walked slowly down the special lateral gangplank. 1974 S. Middleton Holiday iv. 42 Lawn-mowers whined. |
2. To utter complaints in a low querulous tone; to complain in a feeble, mean, or undignified way.
| 1530 Tindale Num. xi. 18 Ye haue whyned in the eares of the Lorde saynge: who shall geue vs flesh to eate? 1568 Hist. Jacob & Esau ii. iv, See and the knaue be not for his dinner whining. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 29 Since Life is but as a Game at Tables, if the fore-game be not to thy wish; neither whine nor Curse, but rowse thy care to an after-Game. 1756 Johnson in Boswell, I know not why any one but a school-boy in his declamation should whine over the Common-wealth of Rome. 1769 Ibid., A man knows it [sc. death] must be so, and submits. It will do him no good to whine. 1880 Dixon Windsor III. xxiv. 238 He had whined and begged for liberty. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed x, I won't whine when my punishment comes. |
3. trans. a. To cause to pass away by whining; to waste in whining.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. vi. 98 At his Nurses teares He whin'd and roar'd away your Victory. 1656 Osborn Adv. Son iii. (ed. 4) 100 That Taylor, reported to have whin'd away himselfe for the love of Queen Elizabeth. |
b. To utter in a whining tone.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 282 At the Reading the Epistle and Gospel, they change their Cope, Mantle, and Hood, and Whine them forth. a 1699 J. Beaumont Psyche i. ccxxiv, To sigh, and weep, and whine Out long complaints. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 577 Canting and whining out all day the word. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxx, ‘If one is to go on living through continual scenes like this,’ she whined. 1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I am iii, Tomorrow morning he will be whining his recantation. |
▪ III. whine
= why not: see why.