Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
whine. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
whine, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
whine in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
whine you have here. The definition of the word
whine will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
whine, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
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”)).
Pronunciation
Noun
whine (plural whines)
- A long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound.
2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 6 August 2020:The 18-year-old [Justin] Bieber can’t quite pull off the “adult” thing just yet: His voice may have dropped a bit since the days of “Baby,” but it still mostly registers as “angelic,” and veers toward a pubescent whine at times.
- A complaint or criticism.
I need to have a quick whine about my boss before we start talking about the holiday.
1987 April 4, T.R. Witomski, “witomski responds to readers' response to witomski (letter)”, in Gay Community News, page 6:Eighner, in particular, is infamous for his "what publishers and editors did to poor me" whines.
Derived terms
Translations
long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound
- Bulgarian: вой (bg) m (voj)
- Catalan: gemec (ca) m, udol (ca) m
- Danish: hvin n
- Dutch: zeuren (nl), huilen (nl), jammeren (nl)
- Finnish: ulvonta (fi)
- French: pleurnicherie (fr) f, geignement (fr) m
- German: Jaulen n, Heulen (de) n, Jammern n, Gejammer (de) n
- Indonesian: rengekan
- Irish: cuach f
- Italian: piagnisteo (it), lagna (it) f, sibilo (it) m, piagnucolio (it) m, frigno (it) m, uggiolio m
- Ligurian: fà u sapìn
- Maori: ngengere
- Norwegian: hvin n, hyl (no) n
- Persian: فغان (fa) (fağân), ناله (fa) (nâle)
- Portuguese: ganido (pt) m
- Romanian: văietare (ro) f, văitare (ro) f, tânguire (ro) f
- Russian: вой (ru) (voj)
- Slovak: kvílenie n
- Spanish: gimoteo (es) m, lloriqueo (es) m
- Turkish: inilti (tr), inleyiş (tr), inleme (tr), sızlanma (tr)
- Vietnamese: thở dài (vi)
|
Verb
whine (third-person singular simple present whines, present participle whining, simple past and past participle whined)
- (intransitive) To utter a high-pitched cry.
- (intransitive) To make a sound resembling such a cry.
- The jet engines whined at take off.
- (intransitive) To complain or protest with a whine or as if with a whine.
1765, Catherine Jemmat, The Memoirs of Mrs. Catherine Jemmat, Daughter of the Late Admiral Yeo, of Plymouth. Written by Herself, 2nd edition, volume I, London: Printed for the author, at Charing-Cross, →OCLC, page 145:[S]he was one of your ſoft ſpoken, canting, whining hypocrites, who with a truly jeſuitical art, could wreſt evil out of the moſt inoffenſive thought, word, look or action; […]
- 1936 Feb. 15, Ernest Hemingway, letter to Maxwell Perkins:
- Feel awfully about Scott... I always knew he couldn't think—he never could—but he had a marvelous talent and the thing is to use it—not whine in public.
- (intransitive) To move with a whining sound.
The jet whined into the air.
The wind whined and moaned through the trees.
- (transitive) To utter with the sound of a whine.
The child whined all his complaints.
Kelly Queen was whining that the boss made him put on his tie.
Usage notes
The homophony of whine (and whining) with wine (and wining) is sometimes a point of humor, as with would you like some cheese with your /waɪn/? or if you're going to be whining then I need to be wining.
Conjugation
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to utter a whine
- Bulgarian: вия (bg) (vija)
- Czech: kňourat, kňučet impf, skučet n
- Danish: hvine
- Finnish: vikistä (fi), vinkua (fi), uikuttaa (fi)
- French: couiner (fr)
- Galician: ganir
- German: jaulen (de), heulen (de), jammern (de)
- Greek:
- Ancient: μινυρίζω (minurízō)
- Hungarian: siránkozik (hu)
- Indonesian: merengek (id)
- Ingrian: kitissä, pikissä
- Italian: piagnucolare (it)
- Maori: uene, ngengere
- Norman: braithe, houinner
- Norwegian: hvine (no), hyle (no)
- Persian: نالیدن (fa) (nâlidan)
- Polish: marudzić (pl)
- Portuguese: ganir (pt)
- Romanian: văita (ro), văieta (ro), tângui (ro)
- Russian: выть (ru) (vytʹ), завывать (ru) (zavyvatʹ), взвывать (ru) impf (vzvyvatʹ)
- Slovak: kvíliť
- Spanish: gimotear (es), lloriquear (es) m
- Turkish: inlemek (tr)
- Vietnamese: rên rỉ (vi)
|
to make a sound resembling such a cry
to complain or protest with a whine or as if with a whine
- Bulgarian: хленча (bg) (hlenča)
- Czech: stěžovat si (cs) impf, naříkat impf (si)
- Dutch: zeuren (nl)
- Esperanto: kritikaĉi
- Finnish: kitistä (fi), vinkua (fi), vikistä (fi)
- French: pleurnicher (fr), geindre (fr)
- German: jaulen (de), heulen (de), jammern (de), quengeln (de), weinen (de)
- Greek:
- Ancient Greek: μινυρίζω (minurízō)
- Hungarian: vinnyog (hu)
- Indonesian: merengek (id)
- Italian: piagnucolare (it)
- Jamaican Creole: nenge nenge
- Maori: ngānehenehe
- Norwegian: sutre (no), syte, jamre (no)
- Persian: نق زدن (fa) (neq zadan)
- Portuguese: lamuriar (pt)
- Romanian: văita (ro), văieta (ro), jelui (ro)
- Russian: плакаться (ru) (plakatʹsja), скулить (ru) (skulitʹ)
- Spanish: gimotear (es), lloriquear (es) m
- Vietnamese: than vãn (vi)
|
to move with a whining sound
to utter with the sound of a whine
Middle English
Verb
whine
- Alternative form of whynen