whinny

American  

[hwin-ee, win-ee] / ˈʰwɪn i, ˈwɪn i /

verb (used without object)

whinnied, whinnying

1. to utter the characteristic cry of a horse; neigh.

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verb (used with object)

whinnied, whinnying

1. to express by whinnying.

noun

PLURAL

whinnies

1. a whinnying sound.

whinny British  

/ ˈwɪnɪ /

verb

1. (of a horse) to neigh softly or gently

2. to make a sound resembling a neigh, such as a laugh

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noun

1. a gentle or low-pitched neigh

Etymology

Origin of whinny

1520–30; imitative; compare earlier whrinny, Latin hinnīre

Example Sentences

Welcoming visitors to the thatched-roof cottage she and her late husband bought soon after the war, she whimsically tweaks the ears of a mechanical horse named Dobin, making him whinny.

From Seattle Times

Nuckels also produced a radio ad with narrator with a western drawl saying “Dirty Dan” was riding off into the sunset as horses whinny in the background.

From Seattle Times

My filly’s whinny, timid trill: I’m sitting by this icy rill, In wintry, frigid wild?

From Washington Post

Their baying and whinnying was interrupted every few minutes Saturday night by the piercing roar of engines from a car race on the other side of the fairgrounds.

From Seattle Times

The cool girls are “horse girls” who gallop around the schoolyard neighing and whinnying, behavior that in America, I can report firsthand, rarely qualifies as anything remotely resembling cool.

From New York Times