資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Whistle \Whis"tle\, n. [AS. hwistle a pipe, flute, whistle. See
{Whistle}, v. i.]
1. A sharp, shrill, more or less musical sound, made by
forcing the breath through a small orifice of the lips, or
through or instrument which gives a similar sound; the
sound used by a sportsman in calling his dogs; the shrill
note of a bird; as, the sharp whistle of a boy, or of a
boatswain's pipe; the blackbird's mellow whistle.
Might we but hear The folded flocks, penned in their
wattled cotes, . . . Or whistle from the lodge.
--Milton.
The countryman could not forbear smiling, . . . and
by that means lost his whistle. --Spectator.
They fear his whistle, and forsake the seas.
--Dryden.
2. The shrill sound made by wind passing among trees or
through crevices, or that made by bullet, or the like,
passing rapidly through the air; the shrill noise (much
used as a signal, etc.) made by steam or gas escaping
through a small orifice, or impinging against the edge of
a metallic bell or cup.
3. An instrument in which gas or steam forced into a cavity,
or against a thin edge, produces a sound more or less like
that made by one who whistles through the compressed lips;
as, a child's whistle; a boatswain's whistle; a steam
whistle (see {Steam whistle}, under {Steam}).
The bells she jingled, and the whistle blew. --Pope.
4. The mouth and throat; -- so called as being the organs of
whistling. [Colloq.]
So was her jolly whistle well ywet. --Chaucer.
Let's drink the other cup to wet our whistles.
--Walton.
{Whistle duck} (Zo["o]l.), the American golden-eye.