whisper
Pronunciation Noun
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Pronunciation Noun
whisper (plural whispers)
- The act of speaking in a quiet voice, especially, without vibration of the vocal cords.
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:
- "Now, look here, Jim Hawkins," he said, in a steady whisper, that was no more than audible.
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:
- (usually, in the plural) A rumor.
- There are whispers of rebellion all around.
- (figurative) A faint trace or hint (of something).
- The soup had just a whisper of basil.
- A low rustling sound, like that of the wind in leaves.
- (internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room.
- 2002, Ralph Schroeder, The Social Life of Avatars (page 218)
- The invisibility of private interactions in the form of whispers resolved an ethical concern in the research but reduced our ability to gauge the volume of interaction […]
- 2004, Caroline A. Haythornthwaite, Michelle M. Kazmer, Learning, Culture and Community in Online Education (page 179)
- Anyone logged in to the chat room can click on an individual name, highlighting it, and send a message — a whisper — that will be seen only by the selected person.
- 2002, Ralph Schroeder, The Social Life of Avatars (page 218)
- French: chuchotement
- German: Geflüster, Flüstern, Wispern
- Italian: sussurro
- Portuguese: murmúrio, sussurro
- Russian: шёпот
- Spanish: susurro
whisper (whispers, present participle whispering; past and past participle whispered)
- (intransitive) To speak softly, or under the breath, so as to be heard only by one near at hand; to utter words without sonant breath; to talk without that vibration in the larynx which gives sonorous, or vocal, sound.
- (transitive) To mention privately and confidentially, or in a whisper.
- They might buzz and whisper it one to another.
- (intransitive) To make a low, sibilant sound.
- the hollow, whispering breeze
- (intransitive) To speak with suspicion or timorous caution; to converse in whispers, as in secret plotting.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Psalms 41:7 ↗:
- All that hate me whisper together against me.
- (transitive, obsolete) To address in a whisper, or low voice.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene ii]:
- and whisper one another in the ear
- where gentlest breezes whisper souls distressed
- (transitive, obsolete) To prompt secretly or cautiously; to inform privately.
- 1613, William Shakespeare; [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene ii]:
- He came to whisper Wolsey.
- French: chuchoter, susurrer, murmurer
- German: flüstern, wispern
- Italian: sussurrare
- Portuguese: murmurar, sussurrar, cochichar
- Russian: шепта́ть
- Spanish: susurrar
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.085