English Explanatory Dictionary

whine

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound.
  2. A peevish or self-pitying complaint or criticism.
verb
  1. To utter a high-pitched cry.
  2. To make a sound resembling such a cry.
  3. To complain or protest with a whine (compare whinge) or as if with a whine, i.e. in a peevish or self-pitying way.
  4. To move with a whining sound.
  5. To utter with the sound of a whine.

Pronunciation

hwīn /waɪn/ /ʍaɪn/ [ʍʌɪ̯n] [ʍäːn] [ʍɑe̯n] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-whine.wav /ʋ(h)ajn/

Word forms

whine whines whining whined no-table-tags glossary whinest whinedst whineth

Etymology

From Middle English whynen, hwinen, whinen, from Old English hwīnan (“to rush, to whizz, to squeal, to whine”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwīnan, from Proto-Germanic *hwīnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwey- (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”). Cognate with Old Norse hvína, whence Icelandic hvína, Norwegian Nynorsk kvina, Swedish vina, and Danish hvine. Despite the strong similarity in sound and meaning, not related with German weinen, Dutch wenen, from Proto-Germanic *wainōną (for which see dialectal English ween (“to weep, lament”)).

Derived words

cheese with that whine coil whine niggerwhine wine-whine merger whining Willy

Translations

Bulgarian: вия Czech: kňourat Czech: kňučet Czech: skučet Danish: hvine Finnish: vikistä Finnish: vinkua Finnish: uikuttaa French: couiner Galician: ganir German: jaulen German: heulen German: jammern German: winseln Ancient Greek: μινυρίζω Hungarian: siránkozik Indonesian: merengek Ingrian: kitissä Ingrian: pikissä Ingrian: irissä Italian: piagnucolare Lithuanian: verkšlenti Māori: uene Māori: ngengere Norman: braithe Norman: houinner Norwegian: hvine Norwegian: hyle Persian: نالیدن Polish: marudzić Portuguese: ganir Romanian: văita Romanian: văieta Romanian: tângui Russian: выть Russian: завывать Russian: взвывать Slovak: kvíliť Spanish: gimotear Spanish: lloriquear Spanish: llorisquear Spanish: mañosear Tamil: சிணுங்கு Tamil: மூக்காலழு Turkish: inlemek Vietnamese: rên rỉ
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