whistler
/ˈʍɪslə(ɹ)/ noun, proper noun
Forms whistlers Wissler Whiseller Whisler
- noun Someone or something that whistles, or who plays a whistle as a musical instrument.
- noun Any of several passerine birds of the genera Pachycephala and Coracornis, of Australasia and the western Pacific.
- noun Any bird that whistles or is noted for its whistling vocalisations (applied regionally to various specific species).
- noun A goldeneye (any of certain ducks of genus Bucephala).
- noun A whistling marmot (Marmota caligata).
- noun A mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa).
- noun An audio-frequency electromagnetic wave produced by atmospheric disturbances such as lightning.
- noun A broken-winded horse.
- proper noun (countable) A surname.
- proper noun A resort town in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada.
- proper noun A mountain in British Columbia, Canada; in full, Whistler Mountain.
- proper noun A neighbourhood of Prichard, Mobile County, Alabama, United States, named after George Washington Whistler.
Synonyms
hoary marmot James Abbott McNeill Whistler whistling marmot Marmota caligata goldeneye Bucephela clangula thickhead
Etymology
From Middle English whisteler, whistlar, whystelare, from Old English hwistlere (“a player on a flute; a piper”), equivalent to whistle + -er.
Continuing the Middle English Wistler, Wyzelere, an occupational surname from the Old English hwistlere (“piper”).
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [AS. hwistlere.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “whistler”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details