▪ I. whistling, vbl. n.
(ˈhwɪs(ə)lɪŋ)
Forms: see whistle v.; also 5 Sc. quhestlyng, 6 Sc. quhisling, 7 whisling.
[OE. (h)wistlung, f. (h)wistlian, whistle v.: see -ing1.]
The action of the verb whistle, in various senses.
1. a. The action of producing a shrill note or notes by forcing the breath through the lips; the utterance of a tune, etc. in this way; † hissing: see whistle v. 1, 5.
| c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxiii. 173 Sua sua mid liðre wisðlunga mon hors ᵹestilleð, sua eac mid ð ære illcan wistlunga mon mæᵹ hund astyriᵹean. c 1100 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 162/44 Sibilatio, hwistlung. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 456 Foules þat..folwed his whistellynge. 1382 Wyclif 2 Chron. xxix. 8 He toke hem in to distourblynge, and into deth, and in to whistlyng [Vulg. sibilum]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xiv. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 255 b/2 An oxe heerde..pleseþ ham [sc. the oxen] wiþ whistelinge and wiþ songe. 1577 Grange Golden Aphrod. K iij b, Vnmanned Haukes forsake the lure, all whistlyng brings them not to fiste. 1663 Cowley Ess., Agric. Wks. (1674) 106 Some swell up their sleight Sails with pop'lar fame, Charm'd with the foolish whistlings of a Name. 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Superst. etc. 66 Whistling at sea is supposed to cause an increase of wind, if not a storm. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 45 The same absence of thought which is shewn in England by whistling is displayed in Spain by singing. 1892 Kipling Lett. of Travel (1920) 65 He continued an interrupted whistling of ‘I owe ten dollars to O'Grady’. |
b. The action of sounding a whistle or pipe; piping.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xv. 25 Wæs ða sunu his ældra on lond & miððy ᵹecuome & ᵹeneolecde to huse ᵹeherde huislung [L. simphoniam] & þæt song. 1576 Curteys Two Serm. B iv b, The Shephearde needeth a Whistle, and..a Dog and an hooke, that suche Sheep as wil not come in with whistling may be either baited in with a Dogge, or drawen in with a Hook. 1679 Oates Myst. Iniq. 14 The Master of a Galley..with once whistling makes all the Galley Slaves fall to their Oars. 1884 Manch. Exam. 6 Oct. 5/6 The occasional whistling of an engine. |
c. In phrases alluding to the act of whistling by way of a call or summons, as
for the whistling (
= quite easily, without any trouble),
worth the whistling.
| 1546 J. Heywood Prov. i. xi. (1867) 35 It is..a poore dogge, that is not woorth the whystlyng. 1601 Sir W. Cornwallis Ess. ii. lii. (1631) 334 Magnanimitie, state, absolutenes are qualities worth the whistling. 1610 J. Robinson Justif. Sep. 152 In England a man may haue a Priest for the whisteling. 1655 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 287 He may be had for whistlinge. |
d. In
fig. phr. whistling in the dark: see
whistle v. 9 b.
| 1939 Time 18 Dec. 21/3 Since precious little German trade can be sailed, submarined or flown overseas, writing about ‘new possibilities’..sounded like official whistling in the dark. 1968 J. M. White Nightclimber xix. 132 He, like me, hated and feared being carried in this ship, for all his whistling in the dark. 1977 Listener 10 Feb. 169/3 Lenin and his wife..were not above a little whistling in the dark to keep up their spirits. |
2. a. The utterance of a clear shrill note or notes, as the natural call of a bird or other animal;
† also formerly, the hissing of serpents.
In
quots. 1375
app. an error for
questing = baying (of dogs).
| c 950 Guthlac (Prose) viii. (1909) 139 Mislice fuᵹela hwistlunge. 13.. K. Alis. 5247 (Laud MS.) Grete Addren comen flynge And scorpions wiþ vile whistlynge. 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 87 He herd..A hundis quhistlyng [ed. Hart whissilling, MS. Edinb. questionyng] apon fer. Ibid. 94 A hundis quhestlyng. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 14140 Whan I here ther..whystlynges, For verray Ioy I hoppe and daunce. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 156 Each Cygnet sweet,..Whose tuneful whistling makes the waters pass. 1847 Leichhardt Jrnl. xiii. 461 The leatherhead with its constantly changing call and whistling. 1855 C. E. Norton Let. to Lowell 6 Apr., There is scarcely a sound but the whistling of the frogs. |
b. A form of broken wind in horses:
cf. whistler 2 d.
| 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports ii. iii. ii. §1. 403 Roaring, whistling, and all defects of the wind, are easily discovered on the first smart gallop. |
3. The production of any shrill sound of this kind, as by the wind, a missile, etc.
| 1513 Douglas æneis i. ii. 6 Quhair Eolus..the wyndis lowde quhisling..by his power refrenis. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. i. 5 The Southerne winde..by his hollow whistling in the Leaues, Fortels a Tempest. 1608 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. Schism 932 Sea's angry noise, loud bellowing of the Winde,..the tackles whisteling. 1609 Bible (Douay) 1 Kings xix. 12 And after the fire a wistling of a gentle winde. 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 9 We regard what he saith no more than we do the Whistling of the Wind. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. ii. i. 58 The arrows made a loud whistling in their flight. 1841 J. F. Cooper Deerslayer iii, At the report of the rifle and the whistling of the bullet. 1844 Dufton Deafness 77 If there is mucus, then various kinds of gurgling and whistling will be evident. 1899 J. G. Millais Breath fr. Veldt 337 Swishing their white tails..with such violence that the whistling caused by this movement can be heard nearly a quarter of a mile away. |
4. attrib., as
whistling match,
whistling pipe;
whistling-post, a post beside a railway-line, on passing which the engine-whistle is sounded;
whistling-shop slang, a room in a prison in which spirits were secretly sold without a licence (a signal being given by whistling to escape detection).
| 1837 D. Walker Sports & Games 344 *Whistling Match. A match of this kind is recorded in a paper of Addison's. |
| 1586 [? J. Case] Praise Mus. i. 18 The *whistling pipes which were made for the most part, of reedes. |
| 1898 Hamblen Gen. Manager's Story x. 140, I managed to see most of the *whistling-posts,..and..I blew the crossing signal anyway. |
| 1796 Grose Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 3), *Whistling shop, rooms in the King's Bench prison where drams are privately sold. 1821 W. T. Moncrieff Tom & Jerry iii. v, Scene V.—Interior of Whistling Shop. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xlv, A whistling-shop, sir, is where they sell spirits. |
▪ II. ˈwhistling, ppl. a. Forms: see
whistle v.; also 6
whislyng.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.] That whistles, in various senses.
1. a. Of inanimate things: see
whistle v. 3.
whistling arrow, a toy arrow formerly in use, with a hollow head so constructed as to make a whistling sound in flying.
whistling buoy, a buoy fitted with a whistle which is automatically sounded by the movement of the waves.
whistling kettle, a kettle fitted with a device that emits a whistle as the water boils.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 170 Men myghte his brydel heere Gynglen in a whistlynge wynd. a 1547 Surrey æneis iv. 586 The whistlyng ayre among the braunches rores. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 86 To dance our ringlets to the whistling Winde. a 1593 Marlowe Lucan i. 240 Shrill cornets, whistling fifes. 1667 J. Flavel Saint Indeed (1673) 71 To a guilty Conscience, the whistling leaves are Drums and Trumpets. a 1718 Prior Henry & Emma 333 Winged Deaths in whistling Arrows fly. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 802 The whistling ball Sent through the trav'ller's temples! Ibid. vi. 941 The..haughty world..sweeps him with her whistling silks. 1842 Tennyson Sir Galahad 59 Blessed forms in whistling storms Fly o'er waste fens. 1880 Cassell's Fam. Mag. 124/2 The Courtenay automatic whistling buoy. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xviii, The whistling strokes of the scourge. 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. viii, The We're Here crawled in on half-flood, and the whistling-buoy moaned and mourned behind her. 1928–9 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 173/4 The Whistling kettle. When the water boils the kettle whistles. 1961 J. Stroud Touch & Go iv. 43 The whistling kettle..burst into an unnerving shriek. 1974 R. Ingham Yoris xx. 63 She put a small whistling kettle on the gas ring. |
b. transf. of a time or place: Characterized by or full of whistling.
| 1623 J. Wodroephe Marrow Fr. Tongue 475/2 A Whistling March, that makes the Plough Man blithe. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 167 Our..journey..through whistling dales; in..which we were..weather-beaten with a raging storme. 1805 Forsyth Beauties Scot. III. 227 The English Chapel [in Glasgow]..the common people,..on account of its organ, stigmatize it with the contemptuous epithet of the whistling kirk. |
c. Mil. Designating a missile which makes a whistling sound in flight, or a gun from which such missiles are fired. Freq. in the nicknames of these.
| 1864 J. Brobst Let. 28 May in M. B. Roth Well, Mary: Civil War Lett. Wisconsin Volunteer (1960) iv. 67 We dare not show our heads unless we want them to send one of their whistling jimmies at us. 1902 J. Milne Epistles of Atkins iv. 67 At Ladysmith ‘Sighing Sarah’ and ‘Whistling Willie’ proclaim their own shots from Umbalwana. 1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars xcv. 507 The aeroplanes circled round in their cold-blooded way, to drop whistling bombs into its trenches. 1948 W. White Man called White 256 Three heavy German guns which the Americans nicknamed ‘The Anzio Express’ and ‘Whistling Willies’. |
2. a. Of a sound: Of the nature of a whistle; such as is produced by a whistle or shrill pipe.
| 1662 Boyle Exam. Hobbes iii. 16 The external Air rushing in with a whistling noise at the..Orifice. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 363 The u Gallicum, or whistling u,..cannot be denied to be a distinct simple vowel. 1750 G. Hughes Barbados iv. 119 The Wind, blowing into the Cavities of these Husks, makes a very sonorous whistling Noise. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. ii, They..beheld the barbarian..brandish high his formidable weapon, the whistling sound of which made the old arch ring. 1851 W. H. Walshe Dis. Lungs 97 Sibilant rhonchus..two varieties, the short and the prolonged, or the clicking and the whistling. |
b. whistling atmospheric:
= whistler 3 b.
| 1953 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. CCXLVI. 128 The main facts of observation concerning the whistling atmospherics..are summarized above. 1959 Davies & Palmer Radio Stud. Universe ix. 174 Storey at Cambridge in 1952..was investigating a phenomenon known as whistling atmospherics or simply ‘whistlers’ which are groups of radio waves at audio frequencies (15 kc/s). 1963 [see whistler 3 b]. |
3. a. Of a person: see
whistle v. 1, 4.
| 1630 B. Jonson New Inn i. i, I must ha'..whistling boyes to bring my haruest home. 1721 Kelly Sc. Prov. 33 A crooning Cow, a crowing Hen, and a whistling Maid boded never luck to a House. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xii. 250 Jackey..was the most thoughtless, whistling, sauntering fellow. 1802 Wordsw. Poems, To Toussaint l'Ouverture 2 Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough Within thy hearing. 1850 N. & Q. 1st Ser. II. 164/1 A whistling woman and a crowing hen Is neither fit for God nor men. |
b. That keeps a ‘whistling-shop’ (see
prec. 4).
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. xlv, ‘Any more?’ said the whistling gentleman. |
4. a. Of a bird or other animal: see
whistle v. 2.
Chiefly as a descriptive epithet of particular species, as in
whistling dick, a name for various species of thrush,
esp. of the Australian genus
Colluricincla;
whistling duck, various species of duck, as the golden-eye and the widgeon (
cf. whistler 2 a);
whistling eagle or
hawk, a small eagle or large hawk (
Haliastur sphenurus) of Australia and New Caledonia;
whistling field bird or
w. f. plover, the grey plover (
Squatarola helvetica);
whistling fish = whistle-fish (see
whistle n. 4);
whistling marmot = whistler 2 b;
whistling moth (see
quot.);
whistling plover,
swan (see
plover 2,
swan n. 1);
whistling thrush, a local name for the song-thrush.
| 1848 Gould Birds Australia II. pl. 77 Colluricincla Selbii,..*Whistling Dick, of the Colonists of Van Diemen's Land. |
| 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. ii. 69 *Whistling Ducks are somewhat less than our Common Duck... In flying, their Wings make a pretty sort of loud whistling Noise. 1863 Bates Nat. Amazons vii. (1864) 165 Flocks of whistling ducks (Anas Autumnalis), parrots, and..macaws..flew over. |
| 1819 Stephens in Shaw Gen. Zool. XI. ii. 467 [The Alwargrim Plover] is called in America the Large *Whistling Field Bird, from its note, which is very shrill. 1872 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds 243 Whistling Field Plover. Bull-head. Ox-eye. |
| 1763 in Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) I. 143 The seals.. are seen searching for their prey near shore, where the *whistling fish, wraws, and polacks resort. |
| 1907 Nature 19 Sept. 516/1 The ‘*whistling (stridulating) moths’ of the genus Hecatesia..emit sounds like the call of a Cicada. |
| 1668 Charleton Onomast. 109 Pluvialis Flavovirescens, the green Plover, & *whistling Plover. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 145 We..found..a great many of the whistling plover, the same with ours. |
| 1785 Pennant Arctic Zool. II. 542 The *Whistling Swan carries its neck quite erect. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) II. 319 The hooper, or whistling swan..is an inhabitant of the northern regions. 1896 R. B. Sharpe Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. II. 246 The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) and the Whistling Swan (C. americanus). |
| 1668 Charleton Onomast. 100 Boscas, aliis Anas Fistularis,..the Whewer, or *Whistling Widgeon. |
b. whistling thorn, a small prickly tree,
Acacia drepanolobium or
A. zanzibarica, found in East Africa.
| 1949 R. O. Williams Useful & Ornamental Plants in Zanzibar 102 Acacia zanzibarica..Coast Whistling Thorn. A thorny tree..bearing balls of bright yellow flowers. 1966 C. A. W. Guggisberg S.O.S. Rhino iii. 53 The rapid spread of the whistling thorn over vast areas..is probably a result of the reduction..of this animal! 1976 K. Thackeray Crownbird i. 9 The cab was full of whistling thorn, and swarming with red ants. |
Hence
ˈwhistlingly adv., with a whistle or whistling.
| 1851 H. Melville Whale II. xlii. 285 Stubb whistlingly gathers up the coil of the warp. 1891 Illustr. Sporting & Dram. News Christmas No., 36/2 A wind got up, suddenly, whistlingly. |