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• whistler
  whistler

  noun

  a person or thing that whistles.
• Whistler
  Whistler

  noun

  James (Abbott) McNeill 1834–1903, U.S. painter and etcher, in France and England after 1855.

whistler

¹ American  

[hwis-ler, wis-] / ˈʰwɪs lər, ˈwɪs- /

noun

• whistlers
  plural

1. a person or thing that whistles.

2. something that makes a sound like a whistle.

   The windstorm was a 60-mile-an-hour whistler.

3. any of various birds whose wings whistle in flight, especially the goldeneye.

4. thickhead.

5. a large marmot, Marmota caligata, of mountainous northwestern North America, closely related to the woodchuck.

6. a horse afflicted with whistling.

7. Radio. a whistling sound heard on a radio, a type of interference caused by distant lightning.

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Whistler ² American  

[wis-ler, hwis-] / ˈwɪs lər, ˈʰwɪs- /

noun

1. James (Abbott) McNeill 1834–1903, U.S. painter and etcher, in France and England after 1855.

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whistler ¹ British  

/ ˈwɪslə /

noun

1. a person or thing that whistles

2. radio an atmospheric disturbance picked up by radio receivers, characterized by a whistling sound of decreasing pitch. It is caused by the electromagnetic radiation produced by lightning

3. any of various birds having a whistling call, such as certain Australian flycatchers and the goldeneye See also thickhead

4. any of various North American marmots of the genus Marmota, esp M. caligata ( hoary marmot )

5. vet science a horse affected with an abnormal respiratory noise, resembling whistling

6. informal a referee

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Whistler ² British  

/ ˈwɪslə /

noun

1. James Abbott McNeill. 1834–1903, US painter and etcher, living in Europe. He is best known for his sequence of nocturnes and his portraits

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Whistlerian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• whistlers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of whistler

before 1000; Middle English; Old English hwistlere. See whistle, -er ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whistler Whistler whistlers

Rubenstein introduced Ullman to Harris as a champion whistler and suggested using him for a Commanders game.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026

These days, Sundays look a bit different for the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and whistler, but they’re still a time for decompressing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2024

With five of Scotland's starting line-up one booking away from a suspension for the play-off semi-final, the home team needed a card-happy whistler like it need a firm kick in the unmentionables.

From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2021

Eventually a congressional aide approached the whistler and begged him to leave before asking, "Are you trying to assault people with auditory weapons?"

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2021

I mean you don't just go up to somebody and say, "You're a terrific whistler."

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger

Marked by veils of heavily diluted color that are rubbed into the canvas weave to create a weightless, matte effect, its soft, evanescent surface was intended to read, Whistler said, “like breath on glass.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

A few months before his senior year in high school, McBride was at a terrain park at Whistler Blackcomb resort.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026

Many of Monet’s artist friends, including James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent and Édouard Manet, had succumbed to La Serenissima’s seductive light and glittering water, but Monet seemed resistant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2025

The 2025 event in Vancouver and Whistler, is expected to attract 550 competitors from up to 25 nations.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2024

Mr. Whistler writes in an off-hand, colloquial style, much besprinkled with French—a style which might be called familiar if one often encountered anything like it.

From Views and Reviews by Henry James

“It’s pretty rare what she’s up to, there aren’t a lot of whistlers in the Rolodex you can call,” said Thomas Brenneck, Lewis’ longtime collaborator who produced “On the Lips.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2024

Intriguingly, the scientists report that the whistlers usually exchanged whistles with second-order allies with whom they were weakly bonded, rather than calling to a best buddy.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 24, 2022

She added, “We’re a whooping and hollering crowd in Philadelphia now,” and described baseball whistlers and shouts from the audience.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 2, 2015

They take turns reading the text and whistling until all the whistlers have taken a solo.

From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2013

They don't hurt anybody, most of them, and maybe they're secretly all terrific whistlers or something.

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger

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