whin

[ win, hwin ]

nounChiefly British.

any thorny or prickly shrub, especially gorse.

Origin of whin

1375–1425; late Middle English whynne, apparently <Scandinavian; compare Icelandic hvīngras bent grass, Danish hvene,Swedish (h)ven

Words Nearby whin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use whin in a sentence

An' this winter whin iverything's so high an' wages not raised, a woman can't find enough to cook for her man's dinner.
Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays | Various
We always kapes a full cupboard to thrate our neighbors wid whin they comes in.
Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays | Various
On, ever on, in the darkness and the mire, through clumps of whin and stray bushes of wild briar.
The Underworld | James C. Welsh
Francie lay there in his appointed hiding-hole, looking abroad between two whin-bushes.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI | Robert Louis Stevenson
It always makes me feel aisier about mesilf whin I r-read how bad Julius Cayzar was.
Mr. Dooley Says | Finley Dunne

British Dictionary definitions for whin (1 of 2)

whin¹

/ (wɪn) /

noun

another name for gorse

Origin of whin

C11: from Scandinavian; compare Old Danish hvine (græs), Norwegian hvine, Swedish hven

British Dictionary definitions for whin (2 of 2)

whin²

/ (wɪn) /

noun

short for whinstone

Origin of whin

C14: quin, of obscure origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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