WHISPER • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Whisper

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/wˈɪspər/ /hwˈɪspər/ Listen

noun

Whisper n.

A low, soft, sibilant voice or utterance, which can be heard only by those near at hand; voice or utterance that employs only breath sound without tone, friction against the edges of the vocal cords and arytenoid cartilages taking the place of the vibration of the cords that produces tone; sometimes, in a limited sense, the sound produced by such friction as distinguished from breath sound made by friction against parts of the mouth. See Voice, n., 2. "The inward voice or whisper can not give a tone." "Soft whispers through the assembly went."

A cautious or timorous speech.

Something communicated in secret or by whispering; a suggestion or insinuation.

A low, sibilant sound. "The whispers of the leaves."

verb

Whisper v. t.

To utter in a low and nonvocal tone; to say under the breath; hence, to mention privately and confidentially, or in a whisper. "They might buzz and whisper it one to another."

To address in a whisper, or low voice. (Archaic) "And whisper one another in the ear." "Where gentlest breezes whisper souls distressed."

To prompt secretly or cautiously; to inform privately. (Obs.) "He came to whisper Wolsey."

Whisper v. i. (past & past part. whispered; pres. part. whispering)

To speak softly, or under the breath, so as to be heard only by one near at hand; to utter words without sonant breath; to talk without that vibration in the larynx which gives sonorous, or vocal, sound. See Whisper, n.

To make a low, sibilant sound or noise. "The hollow, whispering breeze."

To speak with suspicion, or timorous caution; to converse in whispers, as in secret plotting. "All that hate me whisper together against me."

See images of 'Whisper'

Etymology of 'Whisper'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Whisper" Quotes from Famous Books

... behind thin pencil lines and smoke blurs. The pavements become isolated, low-roofed corridors. Overhead the electric signs whisper enigmatically and the window ...

— A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago • Ben Hecht

... for small men. It is possible that the boy was entirely wrong in his estimate of the principal. No doubt that worthy, judged from an adult standpoint, was the most courtly and diplomatic pedagogue that ever let his favorite pupils whisper all they pleased, and banged the floor with the other sinners; but, to the boy, he seemed a little, arrogant bit of bumptiousness, who strutted about the schoolroom and was especially fond of hearing himself read aloud. "The Raven" was his favorite selection, and ...

— Pocket Island - A Story of Country Life in New England • Charles Clark Munn

... sins, to grant him a few minutes. When she rejected his prayer with a silent shrug, and went on towards the boat he put out his hand to help her, but she intentionally overlooked it and gave her hand to the physician. At this he sprang after her into the barge, saying in her ear in a tremulous whisper: ...

— Uarda • Georg Ebers

... consolation." Andrey's words flashed into the mother's mind, and she heaved a deep sigh. She was greatly fatigued by the day, and hungry. The monotonous, humid, hoarse whisper of the sick man filled the room and crept helplessly along the smooth, cold, shining walls. At the windows the dark tops of the lime trees trembled quietly. It was growing dusk, and Yegor's face on ...

— Mother • Maxim Gorky

... with blinds always drawn down, and covers to the chairs, but two cosy parlours meant for everyday use, the larger of which was panelled with dark wood which reflected the lamp and firelight, and somehow seemed to be ready to whisper to one stories of the days when wood was used for wall-paper, and when houses were built with sliding panels in the walls and hiding-places in the chimneys. The garden exactly matched the house, and so did the flowers that grew in it—the pink daisies, "boy's love," sweet-williams, ...

— Soldiers of the Queen • Harold Avery

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