Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use whine in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Whine means a long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound. Example: “I need to have a quick whine about my boss before we start talking about the holiday.”

Examples of whine by meaning

nounA peevish or self-pitying complaint or criticism.

  • I need to have a quick whine about my boss before we start talking about the holiday.
  • Eighner, in particular, is infamous for his "what publishers and editors did to poor me" whines.1987 April 4, T.R. Witomski, “witomski responds to readers' response to witomski (letter)”, in Gay Community News, page 6

verbTo make a sound resembling such a cry.

  • The jet engines whined at take off.

verbTo complain or protest with a whine (compare whinge) or as if with a whine, i.e. in a peevish or self-pitying way.

  • I always knew he couldn't think—he never could—but he had a marvelous talent and the thing is to use it—not whine in public.1936 Feb. 15, Ernest Hemingway, letter to Maxwell Perkins

verbTo move with a whining sound.

  • The jet whined into the air.
  • The wind whined and moaned through the trees.

verbTo utter with the sound of a whine.

  • The child whined all his complaints.
  • Kelly Queen was whining that the boss made him put on his tie.

More sentences with whine

  • He’s so narcissistic! He whines that he’s ugly and unlikeable just to fish for compliments.From the entry fish for compliments
  • We heard further scratchings at the door as the dog whined to be let in.From the entry scratching
  • My little sister always whines until she gets her way.From the entry way
  • Shut up! We're sick of your whining!From the entry shut up
  • Some of the tourists in the upcountry might have embarrassed themselves if they'd been capable of having any shame, whining that they couldn't wait to get back to civilization.From the entry civilization
  • "It won't hurt us to take one for the road," Ernie whined.2021, Terry Catasus Jennings, All for One, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 81. From the entry one for the road
  • Paolo doesn’t like to shout over the whine of hair driers.2015, Meg Cabot, Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries; XI), New York, N.Y.: William Morrow, →ISBN, page 50. From the entry hair drier
  • Somewhere high up, a German shell whined, harmlessly, like a mosquito.2014, Alexander Werth, Leningrad, 1943: Inside a City Under Siege, page 44. From the entry gunflash
  • Certain people unjustly expect to receive special treatment and they'll whine and pout like children when disappointed.2011, Phil Torcivia, What a Nice Guy. From the entry entitled
  • "Oh, Daddy," Janet whines, but then instead of complaining, she turns eagerly to me.2010, Kermit Moyer, The Chester Chronicles, page 70. From the entry c'we
  • From somewhere in the distance came the screaming whine of an emergency vehicle's siren.2009, C.S. Graham, The Archangel Project, →ISBN, page 31. From the entry October
  • Kevin whined, his Wookiee face showing hurt somewhere beneath the dark glasses.2009, Jaqueline Girdner, Murder, My Deer, page 115. From the entry Wookiee
  • The pin-thin girl is grizzling, whining that she has sand in her eyes.2009, Judy Waite, Game Girls, unnumbered page. From the entry grizzle
  • And don't whine to me tomorrow about how you bowked your guts out all night.'2009, Blythe Gifford, In the Master's Bed, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 64. From the entry bowk
  • Nadima was sick and most of the time sleeping or whining.2006, N. J. Nusha, On the Edge, page 57. From the entry kachakbar
  • The other men opened fire with pistols, slugs zithering past him with a dull whine.2004, Matt Braun, chapter 15, in Black Gold, New York: St Martin’s Paperbacks, page 158. From the entry zither
  • Towers were "too strong" at first, gosu players whined about n00bs who built them.2004 August 23, assaarpa, “How be noob in RT”, in alt.games.warcraft (Usenet). From the entry gosu
  • This is what allows us to put on our dancing shoes when others are moping and whining.2004, Sharon Kay Riddle, Warring at the Window, page 114. From the entry put on one's dancing shoes
  • Get over the stupid snobism and perhaps watch the film before whining.2001 July 10, who...@wherever.com, “LOTD - Why Am I Not Excited?”, in rec.arts.books.tolkien (Usenet), retrieved 03 May 2022. From the entry snobism
  • The call always starts with a whine, to which the males add from 0 to 6 chucks.1998, Scott Freeman, Jon C. Herron, Evolutionary Analysis, page 604. From the entry chuck
  • Though many have whined about blog, and indeed about crottled greeps, this won't quite do.1995 October 6, David E Romm, “Re: parking ghods (was Re: NYC Fandom)”, in rec.arts.sf.fandom (Usenet), message-ID…. From the entry crottled greep
  • One instrument is plaintive, grievesome, high pitched: a little boy's whine.1989, Ira Sadoff, Emotional Traffic. From the entry grievesome
  • "Oh no, snow!" whined Falcon Housebird to her mistress, Queeny Diamond-Heart.1983 February 5, Andrea Loewenstein, “Snowbound”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 28, page 10. From the entry shut up
  • Pseudoemotional behaviors such as pouting, temper tantrums and whining usually, and intentionally, diminish encounters.1981, Walter Kempler, Experiential Psychotherapy Within Families, page 106. From the entry pseudoemotional
  • From the wooded ridge came in reply the clacking of "typewriters,” and bullets whined over our heads.1973, Edgar B. Jackson, Fall Out to the Right of the Road!, page 321. From the entry typewriter
  • "B-o-i-n-g-g-g." There was another flash and the bullet hit the rail and whined off into the night.1956, Ian Fleming, Diamonds are Forever, published 1965, page 100. From the entry boing
  • What you getting cold feet for now, when we've got a good job?" the long-legged youth whined.1918 June, Chart Pitt, “The Law of the Wolf”, in The Black Cat: Clever Short Stories, volume XXIII, number 9, Salem, Mass.: Shortstory…. From the entry cold feet
  • What’ve I done to yer?”—he began his chronic whine—“I never asked yer to⸺”1903 February, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Hygeia at the Solito”, in Everybody’s Magazine, volume VIII, number 2, New…. From the entry bughouse
  • It's very frightening for him." Bob whined in agreement.2015, Bruce Coville, The Monsters of Morley Manor: A Madcap Adventure, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN. From the entry werehuman
  • I see them walking past its world's -end whine knowing this untongue shreds the tender air in perfect meaninglessness.2013, Simon Jarvis, Night Office. From the entry untongue
  • Want a little cheese with that whine?2012, Meg Blackburn Losey, The Art of Living Out Loud. From the entry cheese with that whine
  • “Better the iarball of a bull than a nagsome gnat,” Kieran called after them, making a whining sound.2011, Linda Windsor, Riona. From the entry nagsome

Meaning of whine

  1. noun A long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound.
  2. noun A peevish or self-pitying complaint or criticism.
  3. verb To utter a high-pitched cry.

Full definition of whine

Questions about whine in a sentence

How do you use whine in a sentence?
Whine is used as a noun and verb. For example: “I need to have a quick whine about my boss before we start talking about the holiday.”
What is a short sentence with whine?
“The child whined all his complaints.”
What does whine mean?
Whine means a long-drawn, high-pitched complaining cry or sound.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: whine (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use whine in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/whine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.