[f. next.] An act of whining; a low somewhat shrill protracted cry, usually expressive of pain or distress; a suppressed nasal tone, as of feeble, mean or undignified complaint; a complaint uttered in this tone. Also transf. a sound resembling this.
1633. P. Fletcher, Pisc. Ecl., I. xxii. The whistling windes joyn’d with the seas to plain, And o’re his boat in whines lamenting creep.
1691. South, Serm., 1 John iii. 21 (1697), II. 470. By a few demure Looks, and affected Whines, set off with some odd, devotional Postures and Grimaces.
1751. Johnson, Rambler, No. 133, ¶ 2. The whine of condolance, or the growl of anger.
1808. Scott, Marm., IV. Introd. 70. With dejected look and whine, To leave the hearth his dogs repine.
1822. Hazlitt, Table-t., Ser. II. i. (1869), 17. A peevish whine in his voice like a beaten schoolboy.
1853. Kane, Grinnell Exp., xxix. (1856), 244. The low whine which the ice gives out when we cut it at right angles with a sharp knife.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., III. 623. The child utters a short cry or whine.
