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whimper [ hwim -per, wim - ] SHOW IPA
/ ˈʰwɪm pər, ˈwɪm- / PHONETIC RESPELLING
🎓 College LevelThis shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
verb (used without object)
to cry with low, plaintive, broken sounds.
noun
a whimpering cry or sound.
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Origin of whimper 1505–15; obsolete
whimp to whine +
-er6
OTHER WORDS FROM whimper whim·per·er, noun whim·per·ing·ly, adverb un·whim·per·ing, adjective un·whim·per·ing·ly, adverb
Words nearby whimper whillikers ,
whilom ,
whilst ,
whim ,
whimbrel ,
whimper ,
whimsey ,
whimsical ,
whimsicality ,
whimsy ,
whim-wham
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Words related to whimper moan ,
weep ,
bleat ,
blubber ,
complain ,
fuss ,
mewl ,
object ,
pule ,
snivel ,
sob ,
whine
How to use whimper in a sentence Experts have long predicted that the pandemic will end with a whimper , not a bang.
For instance, stars burn through their hydrogen fuel, puff up and eventually expel their gases into space, whether with a bang or a whimper .
Yet, rather than following the path laid out in its shadow docket decisions this term, Fulton ended instead with a whimper .
For much of its run, Game of Thrones was the biggest show on television, and then it went out with a whimper .
Dems in disarrayThe 2020 election ended in a whimper yesterday evening, when Democrat Rita Hart suspended her challenge to the results in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.
Did the French monarchy end not with a bang—or a whimper —but a smile?
As ends of eras go, he recalls, it was mostly whimper and not much bang.
Democratic capitalism had won the Cold War not with a bang, but a whimper .
In Kyushu, where the yakuza are deeply rooted, they are not leaving with a whimper , they are leaving with a bang.
Without a bang or a whimper , the Grand Bargain died this week.
He turned kind of white around the gills when he first felt the halter around his neck, and then braced up and not a whimper .
By this time the bent figure sitting in the rocking-chair, near the coffin began to show signs of life and whimper a little.
The whimper grew to a cry which Bud's rude rocking back and forth on the box before the fireplace could not still.
Just look at those poor boys there—some of them are dying, almost, but they won't whimper .
In the ominous silence the dog began to whimper in his sleep and his hind legs kicked convulsively.
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British Dictionary definitions for whimper
verb
(intr) to cry, sob, or whine softly or intermittently
to complain or say (something) in a whining plaintive way
Derived forms of whimper whimperer , noun whimpering , noun whimperingly , adverb Word Origin for whimper C16: from dialect whimp, of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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