from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Whistle \Whis"tle\, n. [AS. hwistle a pipe, flute, whistle. See
{Whistle}, v. i.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A sharp, shrill, more or less musical sound, made by
forcing the breath through a small orifice of the lips, or
through or instrument which gives a similar sound; the
sound used by a sportsman in calling his dogs; the shrill
note of a bird; as, the sharp whistle of a boy, or of a
boatswain's pipe; the blackbird's mellow whistle.
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Might we but hear
The folded flocks, penned in their wattled cotes, .
. .
Or whistle from the lodge. --Milton.
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The countryman could not forbear smiling, . . . and
by that means lost his whistle. --Spectator.
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They fear his whistle, and forsake the seas.
--Dryden.
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2. The shrill sound made by wind passing among trees or
through crevices, or that made by bullet, or the like,
passing rapidly through the air; the shrill noise (much
used as a signal, etc.) made by steam or gas escaping
through a small orifice, or impinging against the edge of
a metallic bell or cup.
[1913 Webster]
3. An instrument in which gas or steam forced into a cavity,
or against a thin edge, produces a sound more or less like
that made by one who whistles through the compressed lips;
as, a child's whistle; a boatswain's whistle; a steam
whistle (see {Steam whistle}, under {Steam}).
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The bells she jingled, and the whistle blew. --Pope.
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4. The mouth and throat; -- so called as being the organs of
whistling. [Colloq.]
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So was her jolly whistle well ywet. --Chaucer.
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Let's drink the other cup to wet our whistles.
--Walton.
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{Whistle duck} (Zool.), the American golden-eye.
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