which way the wind is blowing
the current trend or direction of events
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whid
A word. Sometimes, a fib, a falsehood, a word too much.—Modern Slang, from the ancient cant.
whiddle
To enter into a parley, or hesitate with many words, &c.; to inform, or discover. See WHEEDLE.
whiddler
An informer, or one that betrays the secrets of the gang.
whifflers
Ancient name for fifers; also persons at the universities who examine candidates for degrees. A whiffling cur, a small yelping cur.
whiffles
A relaxation of the scrotum.
while horses
A poetic phrase for the white- capped breakers as they roll m from the sea. The wild white horses play Champ and chafe and toss in the spray.
While the grass grows the steed starves. (Strauss, 1994 p. 1228)
Delays can lead to loss or hardship
while there is life there is hope
As long as someone is alive, there is a chance for improvement or success.
while we're young
Do things now, before we get older
whim-wham
An alliterative term, synonymous with fiddle-faddle, riff-raff, &c., denoting nonsense, rubbish, &c.
whine and complain
To constantly express discontent or dissatisfaction
whinge and whine
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
whip
After the usual allowance of wine is drunk at mess, those who wish for more put a shilling each into a glass handed round to procure a further supply. WHIP-ROUND is now a common term for a subscription of a similar kind to that described.
whip hand
A position of power or control over someone or something
whip into shape
to improve or organize something quickly
whip jacks
The tenth order of the canting crew, rogues who having learned a few sea terms, beg with counterfeit passes, pretending to be sailors shipwrecked on the neighbouring coast, and on their way to the port from whence they sailed.
whip the cat
to take out frustration on a weaker person
whip through
To complete or do something quickly and efficiently
whip up a storm
to create a big reaction or controversy
whipjack
A sham shipwrecked sailor, called also a turnpike-sailor.
whipper-snapper
A diminutive fellow.
whipper-snapper
A waspish, diminutive person.
Whipping Boy
A boy kept to be whipped when a pnnce deserved chastisement. Mungo Murray stood for Charles I, Barnaby Fitz- patrick for Edward VI (Fuller: Church History, it, 342). When Henry IV of France abjured Protestantism and was received into the Catholic Church in 1595, two ambassadors (D'Ossat and Du Perron, afterwards cardinals) were sent to Rome and knelt in the portico of St. Peter, singing the Miserere.
whips and jingles
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
whipster
A sharp or subtle fellow.
whipt syllabub
A flimsy, frothy discourse or treatise, without solidity.
whisk away
To quickly take someone or something away from a place
whisk off
to quickly take someone or something away
whisker biscuit
The vagina.
whiskey dick
Erectile dysfunction caused by excessive alcohol consumption
whiskin
A shallow brown drinking bowl.
whisky
A malt spirit much drank in Ireland and Scotland; also a one-horse chaise. See TIM WHISKY.
Whisky Insurrection
A riotous outbreak in Western Pennsylvania, in 1794, in protest against the excise laws on spirits. In the country districts many small stills were worked by private persons, and when the excise officers attempted to deal with these, they were repulsed with violence and organized resistance. President Washington sent the militia to repress this outbreak and enforce the law, and the insurrection was put down without bloodshed.
whisper
A tip given in secret, a rumour which is spread under the pretence of its being a secret. To "give the WHISPER," is to give a quick tip to any one. An owner’s final instruction to his jockey is called "the WHISPER at the post."
whisper campaign
A secret or unofficial effort to spread rumors or misinformation
whisperer
A constant borrower.
whistle
The throat. To wet one's whistle; to drink.
whistle
"as clean as a WHISTLE," neatly, or "slickly done," as an American would say; "To whet (or more vulgarly wet) one’s WHISTLE," to take a drink. This last is a very old expression. Chaucer says of the Miller of Trumpington’s wife (Canterbury Tales, 4153)—
whistle and flute
for no reason or purpose
whistle Dixie
to talk or think nonsense
whistle for
to ask for something unlikely to happen
whistle in the dark
To try to courageously hide one's fear or uncertainty
whistle in the wind
A futile or ignored warning or message
whistle past the graveyard
To try to stay calm or pretend everything is fine in a frightening situation
whistle walk
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
whistleberries
baked beans
whistling shop
A shebeen.
whistling-billy
Or PUFFING-BILLY, a locomotive engine.
whistling-shop
A place in which spirits are sold without a licence.
whit
[i. e. Whittington's.] Newgate. Cant.--Five rum-padders are rubbed in the darkmans out of the whit, and are piked into the deuseaville; five highwaymen broke out of Newgate in the night, and are gone into the country.
Whit Sunday
White Sunday. The seventh Sunday after Easter, to commemorate the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, In the primitive Church the newly baptized wore white from Easter to Pentecost, and were called albati (white-robed). The last of the Sundays, which was also the chief festival, was called emphatically Dominica in Albis (Sunday in White).
white as snow
Very white.
white as whalebone
An old simile; whale- bone is far from white. Our forefathers seemed to confuse the walrus with the whale; and "white as whalebone" is really a blunder for 4 'white as walrus-ivory.
white bread
Something or someone considered boring or lacking in excitement
white coat hypertension
High blood pressure readings in a medical setting
white collar worker
The professional or clerical worker whose calling demands a certain nicety of attire.
white eye
Military slang for a very strong and deleterious kind of whisky, so called because its potency is believed to turn the eyes round in the sockets, leaving the whites only visible.
white feather
He has a white feather; he is a coward; an allusion to a game cock, where having a white feather is a proof he is not of the true game breed.
white flag
An all-white flag is universally used as the signal of surrender or of desiring to parley. A messenger bearing a white flag is by international decency immune from harm.