whiffle

Meaning

Noun

1. A short blow or gust.
2. A male haircut done with electric clippers.
3. (obsolete) Something small or insignificant; a trifle.
4. (obsolete) A fife or small flute.

Verb

1. To blow a short gust.
2. To waffle, talk aimlessly.
3. To waste time.
4. To travel quickly with an accompanying wind-like sound; whizz, whistle along.
5. To descend rapidly from a height once the decision to land has been made, involving fast side-slipping first one way and then the other.
6. To waver, or shake, as if moved by gusts of wind; to shift, turn, or veer about.
7. To wave or shake quickly; to cause to whiffle.
8. To change from one opinion or course to another; to use evasions; to prevaricate; to be fickle.
9. To disperse with, or as with, a whiff, or puff; to scatter.

Synonyms

whistle

dither

sing

vacillate

waver

blow about

Translations

تقلّب

xiular

schwirren

σφυρίζω

ανεμοσέρνομαι

είμαι άτακτος

φυσώ ατακτώς

soffio

zufolare

strido

vlaag

waaien

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈ(h)wɪfl̩/

Etymology

1662, in sense “flutter as blown by wind”, as whiff + -le (“(frequentative)”) and (onomatopoeia) sound of wind, particularly a leaf fluttering in unsteady wind; compare whiff. Sense “something small or insignificant” is from 1680.