| 释义 |
▪ I. whispering, vbl. n.|ˈhwɪspərɪŋ|
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb whisper.
1. The action of speaking in a whisper; speech without vibration of the vocal cords; whispered talk or conversation.
c975Rushw. Gosp. John vii. 12 Hwisprunge micle [Vulg. murmur multum] wæs..in ðreote. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 2785 Whan sche heryth wispring eny-where. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 159 b, Noyse of whisperyng with the lyppes. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 284 Is whispering nothing? Is leaning Cheeke to Cheeke? 1740Richardson Pamela (1785) II. 375, I was much less concerned..at the Gazings and Whisperings of the Ladies and Gentlemen. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxviii, After a little whispering with the other young ladies. 1863A. M. Bell Princ. Speech 164 This whispering of the Voice Articulations is a remarkable characteristic of Gaelic, Welsh, and Irish speakers.
2. The action of saying or reporting something quietly or secretly; suggestion or insinuation (by whispered speech); faint mention or rumour; esp. (obs. or arch.) malicious insinuation, secret slander or detraction, backbiting.
c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 868 That place..filde ful of tydynges Other lovde or of wisprynges. c1450Mirk's Festial 279 Now hit ys made an hous..of whisperyng and rownyng. 1526Tindale 2 Cor. xii. 20, I feare lest there be founde amonge you..whisperynges, swellynges and debate. 1546W. Thomas Peregryne Wks. 1774 i. 115 He had herd a whysperyng amonge the souldieres how the sayde Earle..had gotten promes of ayde. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III 53 Sekynge after his compaygnie and yet not once herynge any noyse or whysperynge of theim. a1586[see whisperingness]. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. i. 79 Foule whisp'rings are abroad. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. IV. 207 By false reports, whispering and calumny. 1828–43Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) IV. 33 Rumours of war, and whisperings of the intrigues and conspiracies.
3. fig.
a. Soft rustling sound resembling or suggesting whispered speech.
1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 564 The river..making a..gentle whispering. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxvii, The garden..was silent, but for the whispering of the leaves,..and the plashing of the fountains. 1849T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady, Night viii, The..hushed whispering of the vines. 1904Fitchett Commander of ‘Hirondelle’ xx. 230 Her voice fell into the key of the mystical whispering of the sea.
b. Mental suggestion or intimation figured as whispered speech.
1672Sir T. Browne Let. Friend §2 Some secret sense or intimation thereof by dreams, thoughtful whisperings, [etc.]. 1811Shelley Poems fr. St. Irvyne i. iii, Conscience in low, noiseless whispering spoke. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xv, The whisperings of her womanly nature..caused her to shrink from any unmaidenly action.
4. attrib.: whispering campaign, a systematic circulation of rumours, esp. in order to denigrate someone or something (orig. in U.S. Politics); whispering-closet, satirically for a private consulting-room; whispering-gallery, a gallery or dome, usually of circular or elliptical plan, in which a whisper or other faint sound at some point can be heard by reflexion at a distant point where the direct sound is inaudible; whispering-hole, a hole through which one whispers; whispering-office, nickname for a confessional; † whispering-place, = whispering-gallery; † whispering-room, a room for private interviews or consultations; † whispering-trumpet (obs.), whispering-tube = speaking-tube 1; whispering Willie slang (see quots.).
1920Nation (N.Y.) 10 Nov. 517/1 The scandalous underhandedness of the *whispering campaign of the Democrats..only prove[s] the spuriousness of all their protestations of belief in equal rights for black and white. 1949‘R. West’ Meaning of Treason i. vi. 118 A whispering campaign designed to weaken public confidence. 1962D. Lessing Golden Notebk. i. 139 He was desperately depressed—a whispering campaign around the party and near-party circles, that he was and had been ‘A capitalist spy’. 1978D. Bloodworth Crosstalk viii. 69 The Chinese have been mounting a whispering campaign against the Soviet Union, quite distinct from their overt anti-Soviet propaganda.
1808Bentham Sc. Reform 80 The Judge's *whispering-closet: from which all who have any interest in the discovery of the truth are carefully excluded.
a1700Evelyn Diary 31 July 1654, The Minster is indeede a noble fabric. The *whispering gallery is rare, being thro' a passage of 25 yards, in a many-angled cloister. 1812Examiner 28 Dec. 827/2 The whispering gallery in St. Paul's.
1663Butler Hud, i. i. 518 Speaks..As though a Trunk, or *whisp'ring hole. 1712Addison Spect. No. 457 ⁋3 Peter Hush has a whispering Hole in most of the great Coffee-houses about Town.
1704Swift T. Tub iv, The erecting of a *Whispering-Office.
1635Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) I. 180 This *whispering place..is a vault or gallery. 1682Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §13 (1716) 97 The voice of Prophecies is like that of Whispering-places: They who are near or at a little distance hear nothing, those at the farthest extremity will understand all. 1746Phil. Trans. XLIV. 219 As for whispering Places, the best I ever saw was that at Gloucester: But in Italy..I saw, in an Inn, a Room with a square Vault, where whispering, you could easily hear it at the opposite Corner.
1623Webster Duchess Malfi i. ii, A Vizor and a Masque are *whispering roomes That were neu'r built for goodnesse. Ibid. iii. ii, His breast was fill'd with all perfection, And yet it seem'd a priuate whispring roome It made so little noyse of 't.
1688Holme Armoury iii. xvi. (Roxb.) 75/2 In the Base of this square, runing into the next, is a *Whispering Trumpett, a long streight hollow pipe.
1857Dufferin Lett. High Lat. vi. (ed. 3) 65 The voices..became thin and low, as though they reached me through a *whispering tube.
1918H. W. McBride Emma Gees 135 The..‘*Whispering Willies’ belong to the class of large caliber, long range naval gun shells which pass over the front line so high that only a sort of whistling sound is heard. 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 952/2 Whispering Willie, a type of big naval gun used by the Germans: East African campaign of the G.W.
▪ II. ˈwhispering, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
1. That whispers; speaking in a whisper.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 125 With bated breath, and whispring humblenesse. 1716Lady M. W. Montagu Toilet 46 Her Face may boast the Peach's Bloom; But does her nearer whisp'ring Breath perfume? 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 14 The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade, For talking age and whispering lovers made! 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xv, A dozen smiling and whispering girls.
b. Uttered in, or of the nature of, a whisper.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. v. 25, I..could tell A whispering tale in a faire Ladies eare. 1649J. Taylor (Water P.) Wand. Wonders West 19, I spake to him..in a low whispering voice. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 89 He held with them a long and whispering kind of conversation. 1846A. Marsh Fr. Darcy xxxiv, In a low, whispering voice, rendered..faltering by their emotions.
2. Reporting something secretly or confidentially; esp. secretly slanderous, talebearing, backbiting.
1581Munday (title) An Aduertisement and defence for Trueth against her Backbiters, and specially against the whispring Fauourers..of Campians. 1603B. Jonson Sejanus ii. ii. Wks. (1616) 378 Whispring fame Knowledge, and proofe doth to the iealous giue. 1800Coleridge Christabel 409 Whispering tongues can poison truth.
3. Making a soft rustling sound like a whisper. Also said of the sound.
a1547Surrey æneis ii. 963 Eche whispring wind hath power now to fray..my doutfull mind. 1575A. F. Virg. Bucol. vii. 20 Vnder the whispering hollye. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 250 There Ilissus rouls His whispering stream. 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 121 The watch-dog's voice that bayed the whispering wind. 1784Cowper Poplar-Field 2 The whispering sound of the cool colonnade. 1795–1814Wordsw. Excurs. iv. 1170 The whispering air Sends inspiration from the shadowy heights. 1847Longfellow Ev. i. iv. 137 She heard the whispering rain fall. 1850Tennyson In Mem. c, Low morass and whispering reed. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xxiii, The sighing, whispering, sad-voiced water-oaks.
Hence ˈwhisperingly adv., with a whispering voice or sound, in a whisper; † ˈwhisperingness, whispering quality or character (in quot. in sense 2).
1580in Liturgies Reign Q. Eliz. (Parker Soc. 1847) 572 Their speaking..is not softly and whisperingly. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. vii. (1912) 385 Bold onely in busie whisperings, and even in that whisperingnes rather indeed confident in his cunning, that it should not be bewraied. a1603T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 247 A man is bound to discharge all his sinnes..whisperingly or secretly into the eare of a Priest. 1747Richardson Clarissa (1748) I. 308 Thus she ran on,..but whisperingly, that my aunt might not hear her. 1872Geo. Eliot Middlem. xii, The pool..where the..trees leaned whisperingly. 1874L. Carr Jud. Gwynne I. vi. 174 As the last words fell whisperingly from her lips. 1915Kipling New Army ii, Squad after squad..gathered up their target cards, and whisperingly compared them. |