whizz
/wɪz
/(also chiefly North American whiz)
verb (whizzes, whizzing, whizzed) [no object]
1 [with adverbial of direction] Move quickly through the air with a whistling or buzzing sound: the missiles whizzed past...
- Just the sound of the ball whizzing past me as I was struck out yet again.
- Suddenly the silence was interrupted by the sound of arrows whizzing and striking soft objects.
- The sound of cars whizzing by on the lonely suburban road always had a calming effect on him.
1.1Move or go quickly: cobbled streets where people whizzed back and forth on bicycles figurative the weeks whizzed by...
- Now she whizzes round the streets, seeing friends, going to the shops and going to school.
- The streets of Solyana whizzed past them at breakneck speed.
- But driving home that night, with the day's events whizzing round in my head, I did wonder if we were just preaching to the converted.
1.2 (whizz through) Do or deal with quickly: Audrey would whizz through a few chores in the shop...
- Once you've cracked the control and played through the levels once or twice, you can whizz through the game very quickly.
- This is ideal for anyone whizzing through in a lunch-break (although it is perfectly possible to take a leisurely stroll through all the rooms in an hour).
- One of these whizzes through about 30 variations of a skeletonised ‘Little Brown Jug’ with witty compositional virtuosity.
1.3 [with object] Blend (ingredients) in a food processor or liquidizer: whizz the mixture to a smooth paste...
- Shortly before serving, whiz the tapenade ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
- To make the pancakes, whiz the flour, salt, eggs and milk until smooth in a food blender or liquidiser.
- Make the pastry case by whizzing the flour and butter in a food processor until they resemble fine breadcrumbs.
2 informal Urinate.But its not socially acceptable to even discuss whether those views originate from the almighty or a drunken guy whizzing on a tree stump.
noun
1A whistling or buzzing sound made by something moving fast through the air.I can add whizzes, bangs and sparkles really easily....
- Other than that, the £25m building site at the Vauxhall End drowned out the noise of the cricket with whirrings and crashes, whizzes and bangs.
- Add in the fact that when the actual image is being produced, the tube thumps and bangs and whizzes, while the technician is telling you to hold your breath!
1.1 [in singular] informal A fast movement or brief tour: a quick whizz around the research-and-development facility...
- But 76-year-old Nat did not mind one bit as he threw himself into the action with a few games of table football and a quick whizz around the pool table.
- So I took the wife with me planning to have a quick whiz around the shop looking at the prices and stuff.
- On a brief whiz round the village last week, I identified sixteen building sites, large and small, where work was in progress from the new fence at the Golf Club to the lounge at the rear of Harry's Bar.
2 (also wiz) informal A person who is extremely clever at something: a computer whizz...
- Luckily, my mom is a wiz at computer stuff and she's managed to restore Windows without damaging any of my data (at least, it appears that way).
- I had become a wiz with the computer, and all of the librarians relied on me.
- She, being a financial wiz, had told me to transfer my balance to a card with 0% APR, and then transfer it again after nine months.
Early 20th century: influenced by wizard
3North American informal An act of urinating.You walk into the theater's basement, you look, you go take a whizz, you come out, you look again, you check your zipper, and then you leave....
- Go stand in corner, take a whiz, shake it off, zip up.
- Mind you, I do prefer to sneak outside sometimes and just have a whiz on the lemon tree in the backyard.
4 [mass noun] British informal Amphetamines.It was the cool thing to get drunk, take trips or whiz etc....
- Cops hid two bags of whizz to demonstrate their sniffer dog's prowess, but only one was retrieved.
- And jackdaws say they can sort you for whiz, pills and charlie.
Origin
Mid 16th century: imitative.