If someone, especially a politician, goes on a whistle-stop tour, they visit a lot of different places in a short time.
whistle stop in British English
noun
1. US and Canadian
a.
a minor railway station where trains stop only on signal
b.
a small town having such a station
2.
a.
a brief appearance in a town, esp by a political candidate to make a speech, shake hands, etc
b.
(as modifier)
a whistle-stop tour
verbwhistle-stopWord forms: -stops, -stopping or -stopped
3. (intransitive)
to campaign for office by visiting many small towns to give short speeches
whistle-stop in British English
(ˈwɪsəlˌstɒp)
verbWord forms: whistle-stops, whistle-stopping or whistle-stopped(intransitive)
1.
to campaign for office by visiting many small towns to give short speeches
adjective
2.
involving brief appearances in a succession of places, esp by a political candidate to make a speech, shake hands, etc
Bertie Ahern will host a working dinner for Tony Blair tonight as he jets into Dublinon a whistle-stop tour of E.U. capitals.
He had made the whistle-stop visit on his way home from the World Economic Forum.
whistle-stop in American English
(ˈhwɪsəlˌstɑp; ˈwɪsəlˌstɑp)
US
noun
1.
a small town, orig. one at which a train stopped only upon signal
2.
a brief stop in a small town as part of a tour, esp. in a political campaign; orig.,such a stop in which the candidate spoke from the rear platform of a train
verb intransitiveWord forms: ˈwhistle-ˌstopped or ˈwhistle-ˌstopping
3.
to make a series of whistle-stops
Examples of 'whistle stop' in a sentence
whistle stop
She had heard of such things, even seen it on the same film screen which had shown the whistle stop tours.
Haines, Pamela THE GOLDEN LION
`I should keep your money, Mum, I was on a whistle-stop tour down memory lane.
Sue Welfare FALLEN WOMEN (2002)
It was a whistle-stop tour, in which at least twenty prisons would be visited, and he hoped there would be no TV or press.