whiz1
or whizz
[hwiz, wiz]
- to make a humming, buzzing, or hissing sound, as an object passing swiftly through the air.
- to move or rush with such a sound: The angry hornets whizzed by in a cloud.
Show More
- to cause to whiz.
- to treat with a whizzer.
Show More
- Informal. a person who is quite good at a particular activity, in a certain field, etc.: She's a whiz at math.
- the sound of a whizzing object.
- a swift movement producing such a sound.
Show More
Origin of whiz1
1540–50; imitative; cf. fizz
whiz2
[hwiz, wiz]
Show More
Origin of whiz2
by shortening
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for whiz
Contemporary Examples
Significantly, Ruthie was also a whiz at math—a subject in which Bernie was notably deficient.
Historical Examples
Then wielding the sword aloft, he made it whiz past Mr. Landor's neck.
In the Forbidden LandArnold Henry Savage Landor
A flash—a report—and the whiz of a bullet told him that he was observed.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The TurksBracebridge Hemyng
He was about to go on to say that he wondered if he would be caught at all, when—whiz!
Zodiac TownNancy Byrd Turner
The other ferry-boats have a comical appearance as they whirl and whiz past us.
They had not gone many hundred yards before I heard the whiz of a bullet.
Adventures in Many LandsVarious
Word Origin and History for whiz
n.
"clever person," 1914, probably a special use of whiz "something remarkable" (1908), an extended sense of whizz; or perhaps a shortened form of wizard. Noun phrase whiz kid is from 1930s, a take-off on a radio show's quiz kid.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper