▪ I. wehee, int. and n. Obs. exc. dial.
(wiːˈhiː)
Forms: α. 4, 6 wehe (4 wey), 4 wehee, 6–7 weehee, 7 wehie, weahae; 9 Sc. wehaw. β. 4 whi (? wihi), 6 wyhie, wigh-hie, 6–7 wihy, 7 wihee (whhi-hhee), 7–9 dial. wighee.
[Echoic.]
A. int. A conventional representation of the sound uttered by horses.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 75 (MS. T.) As wilde bestis wiþ wehe worþ vp togedere. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 146 Whan the hors was laus, he gynneth gon Toward the fen, ther wilde Mares renne Forth with wehee [v.r. wehe]. c 1520 Skelton Magnyf. 477 And Annot wolde be nyce, and laughes, ‘tehe, wehe’. 1567 Triall of Treasure E iij, We, he, he, he, he, ware the horse heles I saye. 1594 Lyly Mother Bombie iv. ii. 194 Hee neither would cry wyhie, nor wag the taile. 1603 Dekker Patient Grissill 567 So they can crie wighee and hollow, kicking iade. 1606 Chapman Gentl. Usher i. i. 30 One cannot crie ‘wehie’, but straight shee [your Barbarie mare] cries ‘tihi’. 1654 [see tee-hee int.]. c 1690 Roxb. Ballads (1890) VII. 56 The Tapster bid them welcome then, and wea-hae did cry. |
b. Used to a horse.
| 1821 Mactaggart Gallov. Encycl. 472 Wehaw! a cry which displeases horses. 1847 Halliwell, Wighee, an exclamation to horses. |
B. n. An utterance of this sound; a whinny or neigh.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 21 Ȝit wol he make moni a whi [v.rr. many (a) wehe, wey] er he come þere. c 1589 Whip for Ape 26 in Lyly's Wks. (1902) III. 418 Such hahaes, teehees, weehees, wild colts play. 1592 Def. Conny-Catching in Greene's Wks. (Grosart) XI. 59 The olde Churle comming an hower before Supper time,..for an amorous wehe or two, as olde Jades wynnie when they cannot wagge the tayle. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. ii. i, There's ne're a Gentleman i' the countrey has the like humors for the Hobby-horse as I haue? I haue the Methode for the threeding of the needle,..and the wigh-hie, and the daggers in the Nose,..all the Humors incident to the qualitie. 1618 Fletcher Women pleas'd iv. i, His [the hobby-horse's] lewd wihies. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes To Rdr., Rosinante looks for your Tih-hee, and you shall have his Whhi-hhee. 1673 Char. Coffee-House 6 To..make an Oration to Caligula's Horse, whence you can only expect a weehee or Jadish spurn. |
▪ II. † wehee, v. Obs.
Forms: 6–7 wighy, 7 wighie, wihy, wyhee, weyhey.
[f. prec.]
intr. To neigh or whinny, as a horse does.
| 1599 Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. (1602) F 2, Tis an old horse can neither wighy, nor wagge his taile. 1606 ― Parasit. iv. G 1 b, Al that can wyhee or wag the taile, are vpon grievous paines of their backe summond to be assistant in that Session of loue. 1615 [Hoby] Curry-Combe for Coxe-Combe iv. 156 'Tis an ill Horse that can neyther wey-hey, nor wagge his taile. 1618 Breton Courtier & Countryman (Grosart) 8/2 The young Colts wighie at their parting with their Fillies. 1668 Davenant Rivals iii. 36 Tho' lightly on the hobby-horse and dancers, He learns to Wighy, and the rest to prance—Sirs. 1847 Halliwell, Wehee, Wihie. |