sifflev.
/ˈsɪf(ə)l/ intransitive. To blow with a sibilant sound; to whistle, hiss.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > shrill quality > sound shrill [verb (intransitive)] > whistle
sifflec1400
pipec1405
round?1440
whewc1475
whistle1484
pipple1592
wheetle1825
whiffle1832
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 517 Quen ȝeferus syflez [MS reads syfleȝ] hym-self on sedeȝ & erbeȝ.
c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 470 Syþen he..sayez vnte Zeferus þat he syfle warme.
1480 W. Caxton tr. Ovid Metamorphoses xv. viii The gode in forme of a serpent..syfled after his avenement.
a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) i. viii. f. xiiiv/1 Incontynent that the dragon aperceyued hym he came to hym siflinge.
1862 D. Richmond Through Life & For Life xviii. 231 The damp, raw morning air, which siffled in from the open door.
1876 A. D. Whitney Sights & Insights xxv The air siffled gently through the low grass.
Derivatives
ˈsiffling n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > shrill quality > [noun] > whistle
whew1513
whistling1513
whiplinga1529
whist1579
whewing?1590
siffling1603
sifflement1607
whistlea1648
whutea1663
whiff1712
whoop1840
whiffle1972
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1221 Neither doe ordinary hounds understand the signes that huntsmen use, nor every horse the siffling and chirring of the escuirry.
ˈsiffling adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > shrill quality > [adjective] > whistling (of sound) > making whistling sound
whistlingc1405
whutingc1600
whiffling1834
siffling1866
whistly1907
1866 Cornhill Mag. Mar. 313 What joy when Angus drew a long siffling breath.
ˈsiffle n. a sibilant breath sound heard with the stethoscope during auscultation of the chest.
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. Siffle,..a sibilant râle.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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