Word
whimper
Phoneticswhim·per
US/ˈhwɪmpɝ/
UK/wˈɪmpɐ/
Definition
n. a weak, high sound that someone makes when they are in pain or very upset. It is like a small cry or a soft whine.
n. a weak, high-pitched sound of distress, pain, or fear. Often used to describe the vocalisations of children, animals, or people in a state of emotional vulnerability.
Examples
“The puppy gave a small whimper when the door closed.”
“After the loud thunder, the only sound in the room was a quiet whimper from the child in the corner.”
“The silence of the empty house was eventually broken by a faint whimper from the basement, where the old dog had been left alone for the first time in years.”
Examples
simple
“The puppy gave a small whimper when the door closed.”
contextual
“After the loud thunder, the only sound in the room was a quiet whimper from the child in the corner.”
complex
“The silence of the empty house was eventually broken by a faint whimper from the basement, where the old dog had been left alone for the first time in years.”
Etymology
From dialectal whimp (“to whine”) + -er (frequentative suffix). Compare German wimmern (“to whimper, whine”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/whimper