▪ I. whish, n.
(hwɪʃ)
[Imitative.]
A soft sibilant sound, as that of something moving rapidly through the air or over the surface of water. Cf. swish n.1 1.
| 1808 Jamieson, Whish, whush, a rushing or whizzing sound. 1850 Mayne Reid Rifle Rangers I. viii. 103 The ‘whish’ of a rocket attracted our attention. 1863 Power Arab. Days & Nts. 25 The noises on deck, and the whish of the water through which we were rapidly..cutting our way. 1890 Hallett Thous. Miles 453 The howls of these poor creatures, together with the whish of the cane, is heard through the city. |
▪ II. whish, a.1 Obs. exc. dial.
[Cf. whisht and whush.]
Hushed, silent: = whisht a.1, whist a.1
| a 1612 Harington Epigr. i. xxvii. (1618) B 7, You tooke my answer well, and all was whish. |
▪ III. whish, a.2
(dial.): see wisht.
▪ IV. whish, v.1
(hwɪʃ)
Also 6 whysshe.
[Imitative.]
Hence whishing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1. intr. To utter the syllable ‘whish’ or a sound resembling it; trans. to drive or chase by crying ‘whish!’
| 1518 Sel. Cases Star Chamber (Selden Soc.) II. 133 [He] whysshyd them booth owte of the churche. 1538 Bale Thre Lawes B iij b, With whysperynges and whysshynges. 1842 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 243/1 He [sc. an ostler] had relieved the process of whish—whishing at the horses, in imparting [etc.]. 1897 J. Hocking Birthright ii, We heard them ‘whishing’ up the sheep. |
2. To make a soft sibilant sound of this kind, as a body rushing through air or water, or the wind among trees, etc.
| 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus Aa iv b, What a whishynge of the wynde is yonder. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Bruma spirans..whishyng with winde. 1856 S. Rogers Table-Talk 11 You could hear the whishing sound of the ladies' trains. 1860 O. W. Holmes Prof. Breakf.-t. vi, The lightning-express-train whishes by a station. 1929 R. Graves Good-bye to all That xiii. 153, I heard one shell whish-whishing towards me. 1939 L. MacNeice Autumn Jrnl. xiv. 54 The wheels whished in the wet. 1959 R. Bradbury Day it rained Forever 214 Wouldn't it be nice to take a Sunday walk the way we used to do, with your silk parasol and your long dress whishing along? |
▪ V. whish, v.2 Now dial.
Also 6 whysh.
[f. whish int.1; cf. whisht v., whist v.1]
1. trans. To silence, put to silence, hush.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 287 b, Pompeius cooled & whyshed hym in this wyse. 1684 O. Heywood Diaries (1885) IV. 111 Sir Jo. Kay silenced and whisht him. |
2. intr. To be silent or quiet.
| 1607 T. Tomkis Lingua iv. viii, Why do you whish thus? here's none to heare you. 1876 Blackmore Cripps xlix, Whish!—can't 'ee whish, with my name so pat? |
▪ VI. whish, int.1 Now dial.
Also 9 Sc. wheesh.
[Cf. hush int., whisht int.]
An exclamation to command silence: Hush!
| 1635 Quarles Embl. ii. viii. 9 Whish, lullaby,..What ayles my Babe to cry? 1675 Covel in Early Voy. Levant (Hakluyt Soc.) 194 All the waiters cry'd: Whish, whish, etc. in token of silence. 1858 Trollope Dr. Thorne xix, ‘A good dinner now and then is a very good thing.’ ‘Yes; but I don't like eating it with hogs.’ ‘Whish-h; softly, softly, Mr. Gresham, or you'll disturb Mr. Apjohn's digestion.’ 1876 [see prec. 2]. |
▪ VII. whish, int.2
Also 6 Sc. quhisch.
Imitation of a soft sibilant or rushing sound, as of something moving rapidly through the air, etc.
| 1535 Lyndesay Satyre 1920 Gif that ȝour mawkine cryis quhisch. 1692 D. Lawson in G. L. Burr Narr. Witchcraft Cases (1914) 153 Makeing as if she would fly, stretching up her arms as high as she could, and crying ‘Whish, Whish, Whish!’ 1839 Hood Sonn. to Vauxhall 9 Whish—ish!—On high The rocket rushes. 1849 Cupples Green Hand vii, Whish! rush! came the rain in sheets and bucketfuls. 1894 Fenn Real Gold xxiii, Whish, whirr, came a peculiar sound. |