whistle
verb/ˈwɪsl/
/ˈwɪsl/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they whistle | /ˈwɪsl/ /ˈwɪsl/ |
| he / she / it whistles | /ˈwɪslz/ /ˈwɪslz/ |
| past simple whistled | /ˈwɪsld/ /ˈwɪsld/ |
| past participle whistled | /ˈwɪsld/ /ˈwɪsld/ |
| -ing form whistling | /ˈwɪslɪŋ/ /ˈwɪslɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to make a high sound or a musical tune by forcing your breath out when your lips are almost closed
- whistle (something) to whistle a tune
- He whistled in amazement.
- The crowd booed and whistled as the player came onto the field.
- whistle to somebody/something She whistled to the dog to come back.
- whistle at somebody/something Workmen whistled at her as she walked past.
- He whistled at the sheer audacity of the plan.
Extra ExamplesTopics Musicc1- Men whistled at her in the street.
- Norma looked at the letter and whistled softly through her teeth.
- William whistled to me from a distance.
- He started to whistle a tune.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- loudly
- softly
- under your breath
- …
- begin to
- hear somebody
- at
- in
- to
- …
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- [intransitive] to make a loud, high sound by blowing into a whistle
- The referee whistled for a foul.
- [intransitive] (of a kettle or other machine) to make a loud, high sound
- The kettle began to whistle.
- The microphone was making a strange whistling sound.
- The train whistled and shot into the tunnel.
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. to move quickly, making a loud, high sound
- The wind whistled down the chimney.
- A bullet whistled past his ear.
- [intransitive] (of a bird) to make a high sound
Word OriginOld English (h)wistlian (verb), (h)wistle (noun), of Germanic origin; imitative and related to Swedish vissla ‘to whistle’.
Idioms
See whistle in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarysomebody can whistle for something
- (British English, informal) used to say that you are not going to give somebody something that they have asked for
- If he wants his money he can whistle for it—I’m broke!
whistle in the dark
- to pretend not to be afraid
- Instead of whistling in the dark about the inevitable disaster, we should be making plans for when it strikes.
Check pronunciation:
whistle