Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Soft speech produced without using the full voice.
- noun Something uttered very softly.
- noun A secretly or surreptitiously expressed belief, rumor, or hint.
- noun A low rustling sound.
- intransitive verb To speak softly.
- intransitive verb To speak quietly and privately, as by way of gossip, slander, or intrigue.
- intransitive verb To make a soft rustling sound.
- intransitive verb To utter very softly.
- intransitive verb To say or tell privately or secretly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The utterance of words with the breath not made vocal; a low, soft, rustling voice.
- noun A whispered word, remark, or conversation.
- noun A secret hint, suggestion, or insinuation.
- noun A low, rustling sound of whispering, or a similar sound, as of the wind.
- noun Specifically, in medicine, the sound of the whispering voice transmitted to the ear of the auscultator placed against the chest-wall.
- To speak without uttering voice or sonant breath; speak with a low, rustling voice; speak softly or under the breath; converse in whispers: often implying plotting, evil-speaking, and the like.
- To make a low, rustling sound, like that of a whisper.
- To utter in a low non-vocal tone; say under the breath; state or communicate in whispers: often implying plotting, slanderous talk, etc.
- To address or inform in a whisper or low voice, especially with the view of avoiding publicity: elliptical for whisper to.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To speak softly, or under the breath, so as to be heard only by one near at hand; to utter words without sonant breath; to talk without that vibration in the larynx which gives sonorous, or vocal, sound. See
Whisper , n. - intransitive verb To make a low, sibilant sound or noise.
- intransitive verb To speak with suspicion, or timorous caution; to converse in whispers, as in secret plotting.
- noun A low, soft, sibilant voice or utterance, which can be heard only by those near at hand; voice or utterance that employs only breath sound without tone, friction against the edges of the vocal cords and arytenoid cartilages taking the place of the vibration of the cords that produces tone; sometimes, in a limited sense, the sound produced by such friction as distinguished from
breath sound made by friction against parts of the mouth. SeeVoice , n., 2, andGuide to Pronunciation , §§ 5, 153, 154. - noun A cautious or timorous speech.
- noun Something communicated in secret or by whispering; a suggestion or insinuation.
- noun A low, sibilant sound.
- transitive verb To utter in a low and nonvocal tone; to say under the breath; hence, to mention privately and confidentially, or in a whisper.
- transitive verb Archaic To address in a whisper, or low voice.
- transitive verb obsolete To prompt secretly or cautiously; to inform privately.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The act of
speaking in aquiet voice, especially, without vibration of the vocal cords. - noun usually in plural A
rumor . - noun figuratively A faint
trace orhint (of something). - noun Internet A
private message to an individual in achat room . - verb To
talk in a quiet voice.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a light noise, like the noise of silk clothing or leaves blowing in the wind
- verb speak softly; in a low voice
- noun speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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At last, there came a little rustling, whispering sound, all round the window: _rustle, whisper, whisper_.
Stories to Tell Children Fifty-Four Stories With Some Suggestions For Telling Sara Cone Bryant
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You just have to/* whisper ... whisper ... whisper*/
Doom9's Forum 2009
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The urge to spend is strong, especially with what I call the "whisper crew" -- friends, relatives, hangers-on, etc. -- surrounding them.
Andrew Brandt: NFL Labor Pains: The Spending Problem Andrew Brandt 2011
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Not a whisper from the right on the fiscal madness of that or actually Cutting Taxes irresponsibly while troops suffered in the field for lack of good armor protection.
Jimmy Carter on race, the South and President Obama (Blog for Democracy) 2009
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So I left Benicia, where John Barleycorn had nearly got me, and ranged wider afield in pursuit of the whisper from the back of life to come and find.
Chapter 13 2010
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The Hotel Montana in Port Au Prince collapsed into a mess of masonry with nary a whisper from the pile.
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Unions and Democrats are routinely found, again and again, to be embezzling massive amounts of money, with barely a whisper from the media.
The Sad State Of Our Media’s Corruption Reporting « Tai-Chi Policy 2010
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After offering it for about $17 million without success in what is called a "whisper listing," he officially listed the apartment for $14.85 million in January 2009.
After Price Swings, Co-op Sells Josh Barbanel 2011
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The Hotel Montana in Port Au Prince collapsed into a mess of masonry with nary a whisper from the pile.
Archive 2010-02-01 2010
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My whisper is not simply a direct message sent to everyone; that would defeat the point.
frindley commented on the word whisper
See lisp for a neat trick for making a whithper truly dithcreet. (Courtesy C.S. Lewis)
August 8, 2008
reesetee commented on the word whisper
Thpectacular idea! :-)
August 8, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word whisper
thththththt!
August 8, 2008
brobbins commented on the word whisper
prayer, incantation
July 24, 2009
bilby commented on the word whisper
What's with the Onomatopoeia recording on pronunciation? Where did that come from?
December 14, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word whisper
Ooh, somebody noticed! We loaded a lot of "sound effects" pronunciations at the appropriate words a while back -- beep is probably my favorite. I like to imagine that it was recorded by Harpo Marx. (Note: it was not recorded by Harpo Marx.)
December 15, 2009