whinny 1 of 2

as in to neigh
to make the cry typical of a horse the father whinnied and reared as his young daughter pretended to ride him

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whinny

2 of 2

noun

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of whinny
Verb
That doesn’t include food for the horses, who start whinnying. Keith Phipps, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2024 Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth is one of the oldest proverbs known to humankind, whinnying back at least 1,500 years. Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 May 2024 Kenny was large for his age, with a flat, flabby face and a high, whinnying voice. Aryn Kyle, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024 Waffles, patient and unbothered as onlookers walked around and stopped to gaze, nickered as another horse on the other side of the massive stalls whinnied. James Hartley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Jan. 2024 Some unidentified whinnying joins the cacophony that accompanies gentrification—brash and brazen, with a total disregard for anything other than its own bullish desire. Rebecca Haithcoat, GQ, 5 June 2018 The 10-year-old mare bucked, whinnied, and galloped, sensing the pride of victory. Mitchell Gladstone, Philly.com, 2 June 2018 The forecast was calling for rain the next day, an element as necessary for all this — the flowering plant life, the whinnying animal life — as is the sun. John Kelly, Washington Post, 29 Apr. 2018
Noun
This works, Brian says, and leans back against the wall, the dog panting less, the faint whinny of a horse, an airplane. Paul Yoon, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2024 One of the horses fell on its side, its high whinny like a human scream. Nick Romano, EW.com, 12 Dec. 2022 Laughter punctuates the exaggerated whinnies, proving that the source is not in fact a horse. Kalyn Kahler, SI.com, 11 June 2018 But the methodical, meditative act of grooming a horse — brush, brush, brush — and the smell of hay and the gentle whinnies from the 1,200-pound creature have been therapy for Alger. Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 17 May 2018 An astonishing collection of laughs — whinnies, giggles, squeals, snorts, heaves — gradually colors the narrative, until this seemingly harmless man becomes, in effect, not just a witness to savagery, but also an accessory. Jesse Green, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2018 Animal grunts and growls, horse neighs and whinnies. Charles Desmarais, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Apr. 2018 More important, the track is where Charley meets a pretty quarter horse named Lean on Pete, whose velvety brown coat and barely audible whinnies become a balm for the lonely teenager. Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2018 Cloris Leachman was Frau Blücher, the sound of whose name caused horses to whinny in fear. Daniel Lewis, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whinny
Verb
  • The band joked about adding a neighing horse to the intro, and Rimes quickly inserted that sound from his plug-in collection.
    Tom Roland, Billboard, 30 Jan. 2024
  • Laughing, always laughing—at the dickey birds hopping in the tree branches, at the urchin who was burned to a crisp by an angry mob, at the slandering neighbor woman who got turned into a neighing donkey.
    Okwiri Oduor, Harper's Magazine, 15 June 2022
Noun
  • Phill Simon and his family were sleeping in their Glen Park home when the screech of tornado alerts going off on their phones woke them up.
    Hema Sivanandam, The Mercury News, 14 Dec. 2024
  • The climax is protracted but darkly thrilling: ugly secrets spill into the open, winged monkeys screech and scatter, and Elphaba comes into full possession of her powers.
    Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • The poor bat’s squeals lingered with me through the night.
    Jack King, Vulture, 17 Nov. 2024
  • There’s no dialogue, at least none decipherable to human ears — everything is a symphony of meows, woofs, squawks, grunts, squeaks, squeals and simian cries.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • Nor is there evidence, much as Trump’s supporters bleat otherwise, that Biden or DOJ influenced the Georgia racketeering charges or the Manhattan case, which was under investigation before either the president or District Attorney Alvin Bragg were elected.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 6 June 2024
  • Use calls, such as bleats, grunts, snort-wheezes, grunt-snort-wheezes, and more.
    Josh Honeycutt, Outdoor Life, 24 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • There’s no dialogue, at least none decipherable to human ears — everything is a symphony of meows, woofs, squawks, grunts, squeaks, squeals and simian cries.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024
  • Flocks of sparrows and parrots chirp and squawk in the palms overhead.
    Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 9 June 2024
Noun
  • Jackson ran onto the stage — and later took her final bows — to roars of applause.
    Rachel Treisman, NPR, 16 Dec. 2024
  • Then came the roar of approval for the Rare Beauty founder and her record producer fiance.
    Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • And the merry-go-round of yelps and vocal chops at its core gleam like Christmas morning.
    Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 5 Dec. 2024
  • The sound grows in the second movement, with an insistent bell in the background and a mood of increasing emergency; yelps swell to roars.
    Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • And on Thursday night, Ken Carter was one of about two dozen people inside a basketball gym, where the only signs a game was taking place were the squeaks of sneakers and four buzzers to signal the end of each quarter.
    Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 13 Dec. 2024
  • There’s no dialogue, at least none decipherable to human ears — everything is a symphony of meows, woofs, squawks, grunts, squeaks, squeals and simian cries.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Whinny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whinny. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.

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