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Whitsunday

American  
[hwit-suhn-dey, -dee, wit-, hwit-suhn-dey, wit-] / ˈʰwɪtˈsʌn deɪ, -di, ˈwɪt-, ˈʰwɪt sənˌdeɪ, ˈwɪt- /

noun

  1. the seventh Sunday after Easter, celebrated as a festival in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.


Whitsunday British  
/ ˌwɪt-, ˌhwɪtˈsʌndɪ /

noun

  1. (in Scotland) May 15, one of the four quarter days

"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

Etymology

Origin of Whitsunday

before 1100; Middle English whitsonenday, Old English Hwīta Sunnandæg white Sunday; probably so called because the newly baptized wore white robes on that day

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The helicopter crashed during a nighttime exercise with the United States and other nations near the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef.

From Seattle Times Jul. 30, 2023

But they wanted to leave mainly because Whitsunday boat trips were cancelled and on the mainland in Airlie Beach, the islands’ normally idyllic gateway town, things had turned a little squalid.

From The Guardian Mar. 31, 2017

“Debbie is a very large, slow-moving system,” said John Fowler, a spokesman for Ergon Energy, noting that 48,000 customers were without power in the Bowen, Whitsunday and Mackay areas.

From New York Times Mar. 28, 2017

She was snorkelling near the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Queensland in eastern Australia when the attack happened.

From BBC Feb. 14, 2010

In the year 626, Eanfled, daughter of King Edwin, was baptized with twelve others, on the eve of Whitsunday.

From Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England by Bede, Cuthbert

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