different between whistle vs thistle

English

Etymology

From Middle English whistlen, from Old English hwistlan, hwistlian (“to whistle”), from Proto-Germanic *hwistl?n? (“to make a hissing sound”). Cognate with Icelandic hvísla (“to whisper”), Russian ???????? (svistet?, “to whistle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w?sl?/, /??sl?/
• Rhymes: -?s?l

Noun

whistle (countable and uncountable, plural whistles)

2. A device designed to be placed in the mouth and blown, or driven by steam or some other mechanism, to make a whistling sound.
3. An act of whistling.
5. A shrill, high-pitched sound made by whistling.
6. Any high-pitched sound similar to the sound made by whistling.

   the whistle of the wind in the trees

7. (Cockney rhyming slang) A suit (from whistle and flute).
8. (colloquial) The mouth and throat; so called as being the organs of whistling.

   • Let's […] drink the other cup to wet our whistles.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

whistle (third-person singular simple present whistles, present participle whistling, simple past and past participle whistled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) 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.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To make a similar sound by forcing air through a musical instrument or a pipe etc.

   The stream train whistled as it passed by.

3. (intransitive) To move in such a way as to create a whistling sound.

   A bullet whistled past.

4. (transitive) To send, signal, or call by a whistle.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• whistle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Whistle in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• whilest

English

Etymology

From Middle English thistel, from Old English þistel, from Proto-Germanic *þistilaz. *þ?h- from *teyg-, which is a variant of Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to prick”); from this same Proto-Indo-European root comes English stick. Cognates include Scots thrissel, German Distel, Dutch distel and Icelandic þistill.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??sl?/
• Rhymes: -?s?l

Noun

thistle (plural thistles)

1. Any of several perennial composite plants, especially of genera Cirsium, Carduus, Cynara, or Onopordum, having prickly leaves and showy flower heads with prickly bracts.
   • , Genesis 3:18:

     Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field [...].

2. This plant seen as the national emblem of Scotland.
3. (heraldry) This plant used as a charge.
4. The Order of the Thistle, or membership thereof.
   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 324:

     Here's a passage which will please you: ‘It is said that when rich he twice refused the thistle.’

Derived terms

Translations

References

• thistle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• thistle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Hittles, Lettish, listeth, lithest, shittle