whine

i. [A. S. hwinan; cogn. with Icel. vhina to whiz, to whir; Dan. hvine =to whistle, to whine; Sw. hvina to whistle; cf. Icel. kveina to wail; Goth. kwainon to mourn; Sansc. kvan = to buzz.] 1. To expre sorrow, distre , or complaint by a plaintive, drawling cry; to moan; to complain in a mean or unmanly way. ""Tis true, I could not whine nor sigh, I know but to obtain or die." Byron: The Giaour. 2. To make a similar noise. (Said of dogs and other animals.) "I like a dog, could bite as well as whine." Pope: Wife of Bath's Prologue , 152. whine, subst. [WHINE, v .] A drawling, plaintive tone; the nasal, puerile tone of mean complaint; mean or unmanly complaint. "The cant and whine of a mendicant." Cogan: On the Pa ions, pt. ii., ch. iii.