Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To produce a sustained, high-pitched, plaintive sound, as in pain, fear, or complaint.
  • intransitive verb To complain or protest in a childish or annoying fashion.
  • intransitive verb To produce a sustained noise of high pitch.
  • intransitive verb To utter with a whine.
  • noun The act of whining.
  • noun A whining sound.
  • noun A complaint uttered in a sustained, high-pitched tone.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To utter a plaintive protracted sound expressive of distress or complaint; moan as a dog, or in a childish fashion.
  • To complain in a puerile, feeble, or undignified way; bemoan one's self weakly.
  • To utter in a plaintive, querulous, drawling manner: usually with out.
  • noun A drawling, plaintive utterance or tone, as the whinny of a dog; also, the nasal puerile tone of mean complaint; mean or affected complaint.
  • noun In hunting, the noise made by an otter at rutting-time.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To utter or express plaintively, or in a mean, unmanly way.
  • noun A plaintive tone; the nasal, childish tone of mean complaint; mean or affected complaint.
  • intransitive verb To utter a plaintive cry, as some animals; to moan with a childish noise; to complain, or to tell of sorrow, distress, or the like, in a plaintive, nasal tone; hence, to complain or to beg in a mean, unmanly way; to moan basely.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound
  • noun a complaint or criticism
  • verb intransitive To utter a high-pitched cry.
  • verb intransitive To make a sound resembling such a cry.
  • verb intransitive To complain or protest with a whine or as if with a whine.
  • verb intransitive To move with a whining sound.
  • verb transitive To utter with the sound of a whine.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb complain whiningly
  • verb move with a whining sound
  • noun a complaint uttered in a plaintive whining way
  • verb make a high-pitched, screeching noise
  • verb talk in a tearful manner

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English whinen, from Old English hwīnan, to make a whizzing sound.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English hwinen, whinen, from Old English hwīnan ("to rush, to whizz, to squeal, to whine") from Proto-Germanic *hwīnanan. Cognate with Old Norse hvína, whence Icelandic hvína, Norwegian hvine, Swedish hvina and Danish hvine.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Sometimes, during the middle of the night, this one guy'd wake himself up and make himself whine just so he'd know he was still alive.

    --Jan Cox

    August 29, 2007