▪ I. whinger, n.1 Chiefly Sc. Obs. exc. Hist.
(ˈhwɪŋ(g)ə(r), ˈhwɪndʒə(r))
Forms: 6 Sc. quhingar, -ger, -gre, quhinȝear, -yeir, whingear, 6, 8 whingar, 9 dial. whinjer, 6– whinger.
[Presumably related to the earlier synonymous whinyard. The pronunciation with (ŋ) or (ŋg) is vouched for by several instances in rime; that with (dʒ) is indicated by the spelling whinjer (quot. 1823) and implied by the form of Gael. cuinnsear dagger, sword, which is a loan-word from Sc.]
= whinyard.
| 1540 Rec. Elgin (New Spald. Cl. 1903) I. 49 The quhingar..quhairwith the said bluid was drawin. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages (Bann. Club) 313 Incontinent his quhinȝear furth he drew. 1566 Diurn. Occurr. (ibid.) 101 My lord gaif him twa straikis with ane quhingar at the paip. 1681 S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. i. (1710) 7 Some had Cross-Bows, some were Slingers; Some had only Knives and Whingers. Ibid. 52 And other some get bloudy Fingers, By grasping naked Knives and Whingers. 1715 Act 1 Geo. I, c. 54 §1 Poynard, Whingar, or Durk. c 1730 Ramsay Highland Lassie v, I can wield my trusty sword, Or frae my side whisk out a whinger [rime finger]. 1820 Scott Monast. xxvii, If there were a man left..who could draw a whinger. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, Whinjer, a weapon, especially a large sword. |
Hence ˈwhinger v. trans., to stab with a whinger.
| 1892 Longman's Mag. Apr. 687 He and his brother were ‘whingered’ upon the spot. |
▪ II. whinger, n.2 orig. Sc. or dial.
(ˈhwɪndʒə(r))
[f. whinge v. + -er1.]
A whiner.
| 1791 J. Learmont Poems 312 I'll nae act the whinger's part, Like bairnies discontentit. 1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 27 June 11/2 Touching the query about ‘whinger’.., ‘winjer’ was accepted slang for ‘grumbler’ at Q. Uni. a few years ago, and probably still is. I have seldom heard it elsewhere, and no one who uses it seems to know the derivation. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 186 Other local terms for crying... In Dublin the usual word is ‘whinging’, hence ‘whinger’, a term also still used in Cumberland, and occasionally heard in Liverpool. 1983 Listener 14 Apr. 17/2 Certainly, no whinger like me will ever turn Simon into a dissident. |