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Whistle vs Wheeze - What's the difference?

whistle | wheeze |

As nouns the difference between whistle and wheeze

is that whistle is a device designed to be placed in the mouth in order, or driven by steam or otherwise, to make a whistling sound while wheeze is a piping or whistling sound caused by difficult respiration.

As verbs the difference between whistle and wheeze

is that whistle is (ambitransitive) to make a shrill, high-pitched sound by forcing air through the mouth to produce a whistling sound, restrictions to the flow of air are created using the teeth, tongue and lips while wheeze is to breathe hard, and with an audible piping or whistling sound, as persons affected with asthma.

whistle

English

(wikipedia whistle)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A device designed to be placed in the mouth in order, or driven by steam or otherwise, to make a whistling sound.
  • An act of whistling.
  • A shrill, high-pitched sound made by whistling.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine.
  • Any high-pitched sound similar to the sound made by whistling.
    • the whistle of the wind in the trees
  • (Cockney rhyming slang) A suit (from whistle and flute ).
  • * 2005 , Wally Payne, A Minority of One: A Monkey's Tale Continued
    • We soldiers changed into our No.1 dress uniforms, Sid into his best whistle and we set off for the church.
  • The mouth and throat; so called as being the organs of whistling.
  • * Walton
    • Let's drink the other cup to wet our whistles .

    Derived terms

    * bells and whistles * * it's not the whistle that pulls the train * wet one's whistle * whistle-blower * whistle pig * whistle-stop * whistle walk

    Verb

    (whistl)
  • (ambitransitive) To make a shrill, high-pitched sound by forcing air through the mouth. To produce a whistling sound, restrictions to the flow of air are created using the teeth, tongue and lips.
    • Never whistle at a funeral.
    She was whistling a happy tune.
  • To move in such a way as to create a whistling sound.
    • A bullet whistled past.
  • To send, signal, or call by a whistle.
  • * Addison
    • He chanced to miss his dog; we stood still till he had whistled him up.

    Derived terms

    * whistle Dixie * whistle in the dark * whistle past the graveyard

    See also

    * (wikipedia "whistle")

    wheeze

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A piping or whistling sound caused by difficult respiration.
  • An ordinary whisper exaggerated so as to produce the hoarse sound known as the "stage whisper"; a forcible whisper with some admixture of tone.
  • (British, slang) An ulterior scheme or plan
  • * 2011 " Road rage; High petrol prices hurt, but will not throttle the economy", The Economist 19 November 2011:
    • The main point of fuel duty, though, is as a fiscal wheeze : it made up 5% of the tax take in 2010.
  • (slang) Something very humorous or laughable.
    • The new comedy is a wheeze .
    You think you're going to win? That's a real wheeze !

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Verb

  • To breathe hard, and with an audible piping or whistling sound, as persons affected with asthma.
  • * 2001 , (Fourth Estate, paperback edition, 443)
    • If the air smelled even faintly of dog, Lionel coughed, wheezed and sneezed.