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whistling

English · Thesaurus

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whistling¹

  • /ˈwɪs(ə)lɪŋ/
  • [ˈwɪslɪŋ]
  • /ˈʍɪs(ə)lɪŋ/
  • [ˈw̥ɪs(ə)lɪŋ]

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English whistlynge, equivalent to whistle + -ing.

verb

  1. gerund, participle, present present participle and gerund of whistle

whistling²

  • /ˈwɪs(ə)lɪŋ/
  • [ˈwɪslɪŋ]
  • /ˈʍɪs(ə)lɪŋ/
  • [ˈw̥ɪs(ə)lɪŋ]

Where it comes from

From Middle English whistlinge, whystlynge, from Old English hwistlung, equivalent to whistle + -ing.

noun whistlings

  1. A shrill, breathy sound; a whistle.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: hissing, wheezing, tuneless, trilling, tweeting, chirping, twittering, piping, warbling, shrilling, sibilating, keening, soughing, hooting, whooshing, whizzing

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Cite this
MLA

"whistling." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/whistling. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

whistling. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/whistling

Chicago

"whistling." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/whistling.

BibTeX
@misc{whistling_2026,
  title = {whistling},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/whistling},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}