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whisper

[hwis-per, wis-per]

verb (used without object)

to speak with soft, hushed sounds, using the breath, lips, etc., but with no vibration of the vocal cords.

Phonetics. to produce utterance substituting breath for phonation.

to talk softly and privately (often implying gossip, slander, plotting, or the like): The king knew that the courtiers were whispering.

(of trees, water, breezes, etc.) to make a soft, rustling sound like that of whispering.

verb (used with object)

to utter with soft, low sounds, using the breath, lips, etc.: He whispered endearments to her.

Phonetics. to utter (speech sounds) substituting breath for phonation.

to say or tell in a whisper; tell privately.

to speak to or tell (a person) in a whisper or privately.

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Whisper is always a great word to know.

So is broad. Does it mean:

using one basic symbol to represent each phoneme

the degree of obstruction or the type of channel imposed upon the passage of air at a given place of articulation like stop, fricative, nasal, semivowel

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noun

the mode of utterance, or the voice, of a person who whispers: to speak in a whisper.

10.

a word or remark uttered by whispering.

11.

a rumor or insinuation: Whispers circulated about the affair.

12.

a soft, rustling sound like a whisper: the whisper of leaves in the wind.

Origin:
before 950; Middle English whisperen (v.), Old English hwisprian; cognate with German wispern; akin to Old Norse hviskra to whisper, hvīsla to whistle. See whine

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To whisper

Example Sentences

Others whisper that things are happening, then clam up fast.

Children jeer and their parents whisper about street dogs disappearing into cooking pots.

From the softest whisper to the loudest roar, our ears pick up sound.

EXPAND

Others whisper that things are happening, then clam up fast.

Children jeer and their parents whisper about street dogs disappearing into cooking pots.

From the softest whisper to the loudest roar, our ears pick up sound.

His colleagues whisper that his planet doesn't go all the way around his star.

No talking above a whisper and no lights except for the ranger's red light as the mother goes about her labor.

It uses a third of the water guzzled by top-loaders, requires less detergent, and runs whisper quiet.

There is a whisper campaign about yet another one's personal life.

Gradually people from the left and right are beginning to allege in public what some moderates whisper privately:.

Today dawned gray-on-gray, silver fog touching the sea's silvered surface, with not a whisper of wind.

They held a chemical whisper that could rob desire from men….

Rock these where it doesn't matter if the external din is muffled to a whisper.

For seven nights you stay at a hotel where the whisper of.

It is jinn, they say, who whisper into the ears of suicide-bombers.

Once, his ill-fated barber managed to swim away and whisper something to the reeds before dying.

It's relatively small and discrete, and even though it sports a tiny fan it's whisper quiet.

Because the characters become so frantic and keep knocking over furniture, hotel workers whisper that the gringos are loco.

Contractors whisper that it is having trouble spending even its reduced investment budget.

Medical bills have since wiped out his savings, and the tumor has reduced his voice to a whisper.

And who can sit in shuras and whisper in the battalion commander's ear.

Whisper it, but the bad science journalist may be a dying breed.

There were no markings on the engine, not even faint ones, that could whisper its original make or model.

They whisper their rehearsed pitches to themselves as they wait.

Or perhaps it will discreetly whisper their names in your ear.

Bjella pauses, lets the tale float almost weightlessly in the air with its whisper of suicide.

Fellow academics and former colleagues whisper that she has abandoned scholarly distance and hopped into bed with the government.

It seems to be the way of markets that if someone with a megaphone shouts, thousands of others start to whisper.

I've seen the double collar on the dog whisper but can't find what the name is or where to get that particular collar.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

whisper (ˈwɪspə)

—vb
1.	to speak or utter (something) in a soft hushed tone, esp without vibration of the vocal cords
2.	(intr) to speak secretly or furtively, as in promoting intrigue, gossip, etc
3.	(intr) (of leaves, trees, etc) to make a low soft rustling sound
4.	(tr) to utter or suggest secretly or privately: to whisper treason

—n
5.	a low soft voice: to speak in a whisper
6.	something uttered in such a voice
7.	a low soft rustling sound
8.	a trace or suspicion
9.	informal a rumour or secret

[Old English hwisprian; related to Old Norse hvīskra, Old High German hwispalōn, Dutch wispern]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

whisper

O.E. hwisprian "speak very softly" (only in a Northumbrian gloss for L. murmurare), from P.Gmc. *khwis- (cf. M.Du. wispelen, O.H.G. hwispalon, Ger. wispeln, wispern, O.N. hviskra "to whisper"), imitative and probably related to O.E. hwistlian "to whistle." The noun is from 1596.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

whisper

see stage whisper.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

whisper

speech in which the vocal cords are held rigid, preventing the vibration that produces normal sounds. In whispering, voiceless sounds are produced as usual; but voiced sounds (e.g., vowels) are produced by forcing air through a narrow glottal opening formed by holding the vocal cords rigid and close together. See also voice; vocal fry.

Learn more about whisper with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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stage whisper

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