whistle

If you put your lips together and blow, you might be able to whistle. People whistle when they are happy or bored. Sometimes they whistle to get attention. A whistle is used by officials at sporting events to get the attention of the players.

This first set of sentences shows how "whistle" is used as a verb:

• Gary whistles while he works.
• Ryan doesn’t know how to whistle.
• Miriam’s dog will come to you if you whistle.
• A tea kettle whistles when the water begins to boil.
• Someone whistled at a pretty woman to get her attention.

These sentences use "whistle" as a noun:

• Referees use a whistle during football games to manage the action on the field.
• Mrs. Smith uses a whistle to call children back into the school when recess is over.
• A good whistle can be heard from a great distance. (great distance = far away)

whistle

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This page was first published on May 15, 2012. It was updated on January 24, 2015.