whimper

[hwim-per, wim-] /ˈʰwɪm pər, ˈwɪm-/
verb (used without object)
1.
to cry with low, plaintive, broken sounds.
verb (used with object)
2.
to utter in a whimper.
noun
3.
a whimpering cry or sound.
Origin
1505-15; obsolete whimp to whine + -er6
Related forms
whimperer, noun
whimperingly, adverb
unwhimpering, adjective
unwhimperingly, adverb
Synonyms
1. whine, weep, sob. 3. whine, sob.
Examples from the web for whimper
  • It is mostly a long-drawn whimper from a fellow for whom you can't hold much regard.
  • But in comparison with earlier economic crackups, this crisis has packed an emotional wallop but only an intellectual whimper.
  • The undefended estate changed hands without a whimper.
  • All the hullabaloo for over half a decade, and it ends with a whimper.
  • Fear-mongering by writing that all the effects are unknown, so better get under your desk and whimper are not useful bot harmful.
  • The moment, years in the making, was more whimper than bang.
  • Only half awake and rubbing his eyes, he began to whimper again.
  • By the campaign's end, theme and policy had gone out with barely a whimper.
  • And in his internal defeat-the whimper behind the swagger-he relies on her to set his ambition in motion.
  • The world does indeed end, and not with a whimper but a bang.
British Dictionary definitions for whimper

whimper

/ˈwɪmpə/
verb
1.
(intransitive) to cry, sob, or whine softly or intermittently
2.
to complain or say (something) in a whining plaintive way
noun
3.
a soft plaintive whine
Derived Forms
whimperer, noun
whimpering, noun
whimperingly, adverb
Word Origin
C16: from dialect whimp, of imitative origin
Word Origin and History for whimper
v.

1510s, probably of imitative origin, or from German wimmern "to whimper, moan." The noun is first recorded c.1700. Related: Whimpered; whimpering.