whine

Etymology

From Middle English hwinen, whinen, from Old English hwīnan (“to rush, to whizz, to squeal, to whine”) 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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: wīn, IPA^(key): /waɪn/
• (without the wine–whine merger) enPR: hwīn, IPA^(key): /ʍaɪn/
• 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 Onion AV Club‎:

     The 18-year-old 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. (derogatory) a complaint or criticism

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; […]

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

   The jet whined into the air.

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.