whistles

Noun

whistle (countable and uncountable, plural whistles)

1. A device designed to be placed in the mouth and blown, or driven by steam or some other mechanism, to make a whistling sound.
   • A lovely crisp exhaust: a feeling of almost unlimited power combined with complete freedom of running: and, to crown it all, a most melodious and wholly American chime whistle—these were my immediate impressions as we stormed rapidly out of Göttingen, intent on winning back some of the lost time.1960 October, P. Ransome-Wallis, “Modern motive power of the German Federal Railway: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 611
2. An act of whistling.
3. A shrill, high-pitched sound made by whistling.
   • We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine.[…]As we reached the lodge we heard the whistle, and we backed up against one side of the platform as the train pulled up at the other.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
4. Any high-pitched sound similar to the sound made by whistling.
   • the whistle of the wind in the trees
5. (Cockney, slang) A suit (from whistle and flute).
   • We soldiers changed into our No.1 dress uniforms, Sid into his best whistle and we set off for the church.2005, Wally Payne, A Minority of One: A Monkey's Tale Continued
6. (colloquial) The mouth and throat; so called as being the organs of whistling.
   • Let's […] drink the other cup to wet our whistles.1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The...

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