WHINE
What does "WHINE" mean?
To make a long, high, complaining cry, or to complain in a feeble way.
Meanings
- To utter a high, prolonged, plaintive cry. The puppy whined at the locked door.
- To complain in a feeble or annoying way. Stop whining and finish your homework. informal
- A long, high-pitched complaining sound. The engine gave a thin whine as it strained uphill.
Did you know?
- 'Whine' and 'wine' sound identical but share no ancestry: one is an Old English imitation of a high sound, the other comes from the Latin 'vinum.'
Word origin
From Old English 'hwīnan', meaning to whiz or make a humming, hissing sound; originally imitative of the noise itself.
Remember it
WHINE has an H that 'wine' doesn't - the silent H is the hiss of the high complaining sound.
A little poem
The high thin note that asks and asks for more -
a wind that found the gap beneath the door.
couplet
Wordplay
- I asked the toddler to stop whining about dinner. He said he couldn't help it - the whole meal had really gone to his head, like a bad whine.
What it teaches
A whine names a want without doing the work of asking; complaint is wish that refuses to stand up.
Quick facts
What does WHINE mean?
To make a long, high, complaining cry, or to complain in a feeble way.
Is WHINE a valid word?
Yes — WHINE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is WHINE?
WHINE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does WHINE come from?
From Old English 'hwīnan', meaning to whiz or make a humming, hissing sound; originally imitative of the noise itself.
What can WHINE teach us?
A whine names a want without doing the work of asking; complaint is wish that refuses to stand up.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.