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.
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- to cause to whiz.
- to treat with a whizzer.
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- 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.
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Origin of whiz1
1540–50; imitative; cf. fizz
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for whizzing
Contemporary Examples
Hundreds of bees are whizzing circles around the Cotes as they stack honeycombs on the trolley.
Or nailing a whizzing forehand exactly at the right moment to leave his opponent dumbfounded across the net.
It was at this moment that I truly got a sense of just how much capital was whizzing around me.
Signs have been whizzing by with motels for $29.95 and $39.95 a night, which in my new circumstances I should stop at.
Historical Examples
Shot, shells, and bullets were whizzing and hissing by us as we made our way onwards.
Taking TalesW.H.G. Kingston
But straggling shots succeed, and bullets are whizzing past their ears.
The Lone RancheCaptain Mayne Reid
He drove it whizzing past Hodge, who did not have time to touch it.
Frank Merriwell's SonBurt L. Standish
Triangular flights of teal wing by you, whizzing like bullets, hazy with speed.
CaliforniaMary Austin
The buzzing and whizzing sounds increased with great rapidity.
The Phantom YachtCarol Norton
Word Origin and History for whizzing
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