whine

whine

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 hvine, 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

• enPR: wīn, IPA^(key): /waɪn/, [ʍaɪ̯n], [ʍʌɪ̯n], [ʍäːn], [ʍɑe̯n]

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

  (in accents with the "wine-whine" merger)
• Rhymes: -aɪn
• Homophone: wine (accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

whine (plural whines)

1. 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.

2. A complaint or criticism.

   I need to have a quick whine about my boss before we start talking about the holiday.

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 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) (faqân), 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 Vietnamese: thở dài (vi) Turkish: inilti (tr), inleyiş (tr), inleme (tr), sızlanma (tr)

Verb

whine (third-person singular simple present whines, present participle whining, simple past and past participle whined)

1. (intransitive) To utter a high-pitched cry.
2. (intransitive) To make a sound resembling such a cry.

   The jet engines whined at take off.

3. (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, volume I, 2nd edition, London: Printed for the author, at Charing-Cross, OCLC 316667080, 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.

4. (intransitive) To move with a whining sound.

   The jet whined into the air.

   The wind whined and moaned through the trees.

5. (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.

Conjugation

Conjugation of whine

infinitive	(to) whine
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	whine	whined
2nd-person singular	whine, whinest†	whined, whinedst†
3rd-person singular	whines, whineth†	whined
plural	whine
subjunctive	whine	whined
imperative	whine	—
participles	whining	whined

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:complain

Derived terms

• whining Willy

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) 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 Vietnamese: rên rỉ (vi) Turkish: inlemek (tr)

to make a sound resembling such a cry

Bulgarian: скимтя (bg) (skimtja) Finnish: ujeltaa Indonesian: berderu, menderu (id) Italian: sibilare (it) Maori: kōingoingo, koroingoingo, ngengere Portuguese: ganir (pt) Russian: выть (ru) (vytʹ), завыть (ru) (zavytʹ) Spanish: gemir (es)

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 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 Romanian: văita (ro), văieta (ro), jelui (ro) Russian: плакаться (ru) (plakatʹsja), скулить (ru) (skulitʹ) Vietnamese: than vãn (vi) Spanish: gimotear (es), lloriquear (es) m

to move with a whining sound

Finnish: ujeltaa Russian: ~ с воем (~ s vojem)

to utter with the sound of a whine

Maori: ngengere Russian: прорыдать (ru) (prorydatʹ)

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Middle English

Verb

whine

1. Alternative form of whynen