Whine

Pronunciation

• enPR: wÄ«n, IPA: /waɪn/
• Rhymes: -aɪn
• Homophones: wine (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Origin

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 hvina and Danish hvine.

Full definition of whine

Noun

1. a long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound
• 2012, June 26, Genevieve Koski, Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe, 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. a complaint or criticism

Verb

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.
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.

Synonyms