tin whistle

noun

plural tin whistles

: a small fipple flute

called also penny whistle

Examples of tin whistle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Jigs and reels are played on fiddles, tin whistles, accordions, and bodhráns (traditional drums), and trad dancers often take to the floor. —Yvonne Gordon, AFAR Media, 31 Jan. 2025

The concert, the second saluting the album this year, featured Pogues members Spider Stacy on tin whistle, Jem Finer on banjo, and James Fearnley on accordion. —David Browne, Rolling Stone, 18 Dec. 2024

Young musicians play the fiddle and the tin whistle during a traditional session at Teach Hiúdaí Beag. —Saki Knafo, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Oct. 2024

Rua started playing music in primary school, initially with the tin whistle and then guitar. —Karen Bliss, Billboard, 21 Mar. 2024

After MacGowan’s 1991 firing, Stacy, who played tin whistle, became the band’s lead singer for two final albums that retained the Pogues sound and spirit, but lacked some of the fire and charisma of classic lineup. —Al Shipley, SPIN, 30 Nov. 2023

Yet the verses seem to flow almost as a subversive exercise, Shane sneaking his nasty vignettes behind Spider Stacy’s chipper tin whistle. —Geoff Edgers, Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2023

Born in Glasgow but rooted in Ireland’s Donegal, this trio of sisters — Anna, Sheila, and Claire, variously playing flute, tin whistle, uilleann pipes, and fiddle, all singing and harmonizing together as only siblings can — have begun making a mark in the world of Irish traditional music. —Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1740, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tin whistle

• bristle
• fissile
• gristle
• missal
• missile
• nissl
• thistle
• abyssal
• dismissal
• epistle