Adjacent Words

Whispering definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WHISPERING, ppr. Speaking in a low voice; telling secretly; backbiting.
WHISPERING, n. The act of speaking with a low voice; the telling of tales, and exciting of suspicions; a backbiting.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: making a low continuous indistinct sound; "like murmuring waves"; "susurrant voices" [syn: murmuring, susurrant, whispering] n
1: a light noise, like the noise of silk clothing or leaves blowing in the wind [syn: rustle, rustling, whisper, whispering]
2: speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords [syn: whisper, whispering, susurration, voicelessness]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: before 12th century 1. a. whispered speech b. gossip, rumor 2. a sibilant sound ; whisper II. adjective Date: 1547 1. making a sibilant sound 2. spreading confidential and especially derogatory reports <whispering tongues can poison truth — S. T. Coleridge> • whisperingly adverb

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Whisper Whis"per, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Whispered; p. pr. & vb. n. Whispering.] [AS. hwisprian; akin to G. wispern, wispeln, OHG. hwispal?n, Icel. hv[=i]skra, Sw. hviska, Dan. hviske; of imitative origin. Cf. Whistle.] 1. To speak softly, or under the breath, so as to be heard only by one near at hand; to utter words without sonant breath; to talk without that vibration in the larynx which gives sonorous, or vocal, sound. See Whisper, n. 2. To make a low, sibilant sound or noise. The hollow, whispering breeze. --Thomson. 3. To speak with suspicion, or timorous caution; to converse in whispers, as in secret plotting. All that hate me whisper together against me. --Ps. xli. 7.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Whispering Whis"per*ing, a. & n. from Whisper. v. t. Whispering gallery, or Whispering dome, one of such a form that sounds produced in certain parts of it are concentrated by reflection from the walls to another part, so that whispers or feeble sounds are audible at a much greater distance than under ordinary circumstances.

Moby Thesaurus

aspiration, bated breath, breath, breathy voice, buzz, cry, drone, droning, exhalation, gabble, gibber, gibbering, gossip, grapevine, hearsay, jabber, jibber, little voice, low voice, maundering, mouthing, mumble, mumbling, murmur, murmuration, murmuring, murmurish, murmurous, mutter, muttering, rumble, rumor, rustling, scuttlebutt, sigh, soft voice, stage whisper, still small voice, susurrant, susurration, susurrous, susurrus, talk, underbreath, undertone, whisper, whispery