whiffle

English

Alternative forms

• wiffle

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)wɪfl̩/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪfəl

Noun

whiffle (plural whiffles)

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

Verb

whiffle (third-person singular simple present whiffles, present participle whiffling, simple past and past participle whiffled)

1. To blow a short gust.
2. To waffle, talk aimlessly.
3. (UK) To waste time.
4. To travel quickly with an accompanying wind-like sound; whizz, whistle along.
5. (ornithology, of a bird) 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. (intransitive) To waver, or shake, as if moved by gusts of wind; to shift, turn, or veer about.
   • 1699, William Dampier, “Of Storms”, in Voyages and Descriptions. Vol. II. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, part (please specify |part=I to III), page 61:

     [S]ometimes it may happen that ſuch a Cloud may appear ſeveral Mornings and Evenings, and we may not feel the effects of it, or but very little; yet we always provide againſt it; for a North never comes without ſuch a foreboding Cloud. But if the VVinds also vvhiffle about to the South, with fair flattering VVeather, it never fails.

7. (transitive) 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.
   • 1741, I[saac] Watts, “Rules of Improvement by Conversation”, in The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC, paragraph XXVII, page 144:

     [A] Perſon of whiffling and unſteady Turn of Mind, who cannot keep cloſe to a Point of Controverſy, […]

9. To disperse with, or as with, a whiff, or puff; to scatter.
   • 1669, Henry More, “The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Church of Laodicea”, in An Exposition of the Seven Epistles to the Seven Churches; […], London: […] James Flesher, →OCLC, paragraph 13, page 163:

     This is a plain and obvious ſenſe of this Promiſe, […] againſt ſuch as would whiffle away all theſe Truths by reſolving them into a mere moral Allegorie.

Derived terms

• wiffleball