*whin*

n. [ W. chwyn weeds, a single weed. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Bot.) (a) Gorse; furze. See Furze. [ 1913 Webster ]

Through the whins, and by the cairn. Burns. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) Woad-waxed. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Same as Whinstone. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Moor whin or
Petty whin (Bot.), a low prickly shrub (Genista Anglica) common in Western Europe. --
Whin bruiser, a machine for cutting and bruising whin, or furze, to feed cattle on. --
Whin Sparrow (Zool.), the hedge sparrow. [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Whin Thrush (Zool.), the redwing. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The English bilberry; -- so called because it grows on moors among the whins, or furze. Dr. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So called because it frequents whins. ] (Zool.) A small warbler (Pratincola rubetra) common in Europe; -- called also whinchacker, whincheck, whin-clocharet. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Whined p. pr. & vb. n. Whining. ] [ OE. whinen, AS. hwīnan to make a whistling, whizzing sound; akin to Icel. hvīna, Sw. hvina, Dan. hvine, and probably to G. wiehern to neigh, OHG. wihōn, hweijōn; perhaps of imitative origin. Cf. Whinny, v. i. ] To utter a plaintive cry, as some animals; to moan with a childish noise; to complain, or to tell of sorrow, distress, or the like, in a plaintive, nasal tone; hence, to complain or to beg in a mean, unmanly way; to moan basely. “Whining plovers.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

The hounds were . . . staying their coming, but with a whining accent, craving liberty. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dost thou come here to whine? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To utter or express plaintively, or in a mean, unmanly way; as, to whine out an excuse. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A plaintive tone; the nasal, childish tone of mean complaint; mean or affected complaint. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, whines. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To whine. [ Scot. ] Burns. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Whinyard. ] A kind of hanger or sword used as a knife at meals and as a weapon. [ Scot. & Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The chief acknowledged that he had corrected her with his whinger. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a whining manner; in a tone of mean complaint. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To whinny. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Whinnied p. pr. & vb. n. Whinnying. ] [ From Whine ] To utter the ordinary call or cry of a horse; to neigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Whinnies The ordinary cry or call of a horse; a neigh. “The stately horse . . . stooped with a low whinny.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Abounding in whin, gorse, or furze. [ 1913 Webster ]

A fine, large, whinny, . . . unimproved common. Sterne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Scot. whin, quhene, a few, AS. hwēne, hw&aemacr_;ne, a little, hwōn little, few. Cf. Wheen. ] The small pig of a litter. [ Local, U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Whin + stone; cf. Scot. quhynstane. ] A provincial name given in England to basaltic rocks, and applied by miners to other kind of dark-colored unstratified rocks which resist the point of the pick. -- for example, to masses of chert. Whin-dikes, and whin-sills, are names sometimes given to veins or beds of basalt. [ 1913 Webster ]