whistler

¹ American  

[hwis-ler, wis-] / ˈʰwɪs lər, ˈwɪs- /

noun

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. whistling.

7. Radio. a whistling 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

• Whistlerian adjective

Etymology

Origin of whistler

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

Example Sentences

The Celtic boss was not at all happy with Beaton's VAR performance in their recent loss at Hearts, but insists he has no issue with the choice of whistler at Ibrox.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2024

Your character in "The Big Door Prize" is a whistler among other things.

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2023

Last summer, while recording with Molly Lewis, the popular whistler, at the Sound Factory in Hollywood, Rogê met Brenneck, one of the studio’s resident producers.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 18, 2022

The singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and virtuoso whistler Andrew Bird riffles through moods and genres on his holiday album: He’s wistful, sardonic, jaunty and pensive by turns.

From New York Times • Dec. 10, 2020

The whistler was bending down tickling her broken foot and kissing her leg.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison