whining

1 of 2

adjective

whin·​ing ˈ(h)wī-niŋ 

1

: producing or emitting a prolonged, high-pitched sound : producing a whine

a whining howl

… a coil of steel spins through a whining mass of machinery the size of a small two-story house.

—Edward D. Welles

The fresh wind across the big lake blew away the smoke of cooking fires and vanquished the mosquitoes that came out in whining droves …

—Louise Erdrich

2

: complaining or inclined to complain in a childish or petulant manner

They [scientists] think that … joyful people outlive their bilious, whining counterparts.

—Natalie Angier

Brooks plays a whining, middle-aged screenwriter …

—Leah Rozen

whiningly

ˈ(h)wī-niŋ-lē 

adverb

whining

2 of 2

noun

1

: the act or an instance of producing a prolonged, high-pitched sound (such as a cry of distress or pain)

the whining of a dog

… that night she heard a whining and scratching at her door, and when she opened it the lame puppy, drenched and shivering, jumped up on her with little sobbing barks.

—Edith Wharton

2

: the act or activity of complaining in an annoyingly childish or petulant manner

Mom hates whining.

—Ruth Kelley

… but his public whining ("I'm sick and tired of it") didn't do him much good …

—Elizabeth Drew

But "people have begun to come out of that—they're tired of the whining," [J. Walker] Smith says.

—Leslie Miller

Examples of whining in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But the only sound from within was the faint whining of a dog. —Heidi Blake, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024

The soundtrack of this and every summer is my incessant whining to the beat of a whirring fan. —Allison Robicelli, Washington Post, 11 July 2024

For all my whining, though, these categories are so challenging precisely because our city is so incredibly rich with phenomenal choices. —Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 13 June 2024

For people such as former Secretary of Education William Bennett, Obama's election meant that an era of racial whining sanctioned by the excesses of the civil rights and black nationalist movements had ended. —Jonathan Holloway, Foreign Affairs, 26 Jan. 2014

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1586, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1