Whisper \Whis"per\, n.
1. A low, soft, sibilant voice or utterance, which can be
heard only by those near at hand; voice or utterance that
employs only breath sound without tone, friction against
the edges of the vocal cords and arytenoid cartilages
taking the place of the vibration of the cords that
produces tone; sometimes, in a limited sense, the sound
produced by such friction as distinguished from breath
sound made by friction against parts of the mouth. See
Voice, n., 2, and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect]
5, 153, 154.
The inward voice or whisper can not give a tone.
--Bacon.
Soft whispers through the assembly went. --Dryden.
2. A cautious or timorous speech. --South.
3. Something communicated in secret or by whispering; a
suggestion or insinuation.
4. A low, sibilant sound. ``The whispers of the leaves.''
--Tennyson.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) |