whistler

¹

[ hwis-ler, wis- ]

noun

1. a person or thing that whistles.
2. something that makes a sound like a whistle:

   The windstorm was a 60-mile-an-hour whistler.

3. any of various birds whose wings whistle in flight, especially the goldeneye.
4. thickhead ( def 2 ).
5. a large marmot, Marmota caligata, of mountainous northwestern North America, closely related to the woodchuck.
6. a horse afflicted with whistling. whistling.
7. Radio. a whistling whistling sound heard on a radio, a type of interference caused by distant lightning.

Whistler

²

[ wis-ler, hwis- ]

noun

1. James (Abbott) McNeill [m, uh, k-, neel], 1834–1903, U.S. painter and etcher, in France and England after 1855.

whistler

¹

/ ˈwɪslə /

noun

1. a person or thing that whistles
2. radio an atmospheric disturbance picked up by radio receivers, characterized by a whistling sound of decreasing pitch. It is caused by the electromagnetic radiation produced by lightning
3. any of various birds having a whistling call, such as certain Australian flycatchers and the goldeneye See also thickhead
4. any of various North American marmots of the genus Marmota, esp M. caligata ( hoary marmot )
5. vet science a horse affected with an abnormal respiratory noise, resembling whistling
6. informal.
   a referee

Whistler

²

/ ˈwɪslə /

noun

1. WhistlerJames Abbott McNeill18341903MUSARTS AND CRAFTS: painterARTS AND CRAFTS: etcher James Abbott McNeill. 1834–1903, US painter and etcher, living in Europe. He is best known for his sequence of nocturnes and his portraits

Other Words From

• Whis·tle·ri·an [wis-, leer, -ee-, uh, n, hwis-], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of whistler¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English hwistlere. See whistle, -er ¹

Example Sentences

These days, Sundays look a bit different for the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and whistler, but they’re still a time for decompressing.

From Los Angeles Times

In Season 1, the cards it spit out seemingly told characters what their true fate was: magician, royalty, or in the case of Chris O’Dowd’s repressed family man, “teacher/whistler.”

From New York Times

The Celtic boss was not at all happy with Beaton's VAR performance in their recent loss at Hearts, but insists he has no issue with the choice of whistler at Ibrox.

From BBC

Also, about Tuesday’s playlist … how could you possibly put together a mix of whistling songs without noted whistler Andrew Bird?!

From New York Times

The third monster is El Silbón, a killing whistler with origins in Colombia and Venezuela.

From Los Angeles Times