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whiz1

or whizz

[hwiz, wiz]
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verb (used without object), whizzed, whiz·zing.
  1. to make a humming, buzzing, or hissing sound, as an object passing swiftly through the air.
  2. to move or rush with such a sound: The angry hornets whizzed by in a cloud.
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verb (used with object), whizzed, whiz·zing.
  1. to cause to whiz.
  2. to treat with a whizzer.
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noun
  1. Informal. a person who is quite good at a particular activity, in a certain field, etc.: She's a whiz at math.
  2. the sound of a whizzing object.
  3. a swift movement producing such a sound.
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Origin of whiz1

1540–50; imitative; cf. fizz
Related formswhiz·zing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for whizz

Historical Examples

  • He didn't need any whizz plane then to beat the Curtiss record.

    Torchy

    Sewell Ford

  • We hear it whistle past our ears, we feel it whizz over our helmets.

  • A mile was covered, and they were just passing a clump of bushes when whizz!

  • He rose up again, and there was a whizz and a crack that startled me.

    Bunyip Land

    George Manville Fenn

  • Let us step into it, then, and whizz round to Captain Morrison's house.

British Dictionary definitions for whizz

whizz

whiz

verb whizzes, whizzing or whizzed
  1. to make or cause to make a loud humming or buzzing sound
  2. to move or cause to move with such a sound
  3. (intr) informal to move or go rapidly
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noun
  1. a loud humming or buzzing sound
  2. informal a person who is extremely skilful at some activity
  3. a slang word for amphetamine
  4. take a whizz US informal to urinate
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Word Origin

C16: of imitative origin
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

Word Origin and History for whizz

v.

"make or move with a humming, hissing sound," 1540s, of imitative origin. Meaning "to urinate" is from 1929. Related: Whizzed; whizzing. The noun is recorded from 1610s.

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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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper