Link Centre Dictionary

whisper

whis·per

UK/ˈ(h)wɪspə/ US/ˈ(h)wɪspɚ/ fairly common
verb (1) noun (2)

verb

1.

speak softly; in a low voice

Antonyms

noun

1.
2.

the light noise like the noise of silk clothing or leaves blowing in the wind

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English whisperen, from Old English hwisprian (“to mutter, murmur, whisper”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwisprōn, from Proto-Germanic *hwisprōną (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweys-, *ḱwey- (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”). Cognate with Dutch wisperen (“to whisper”), German wispern (“to mumble, whisper”). Related also to Danish hviske (“to whisper”), Icelandic hvískra (“to whisper”), Norwegian Bokmål hviske, kviskre (“to whisper”), Norwegian Nynorsk kviskre, kviskra (“to whisper”), Swedish viska (“to whisper”). More at English whistle.

Phrases

  • a whisper down the lane
  • Chinese whispers
  • in a pig's whisper
  • pig's whisper
  • stage whisper
  • whisper campaign
  • whisper down the lane
  • whisper interpreting
  • whisper network

Related words

Word family

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.