Whistle

Whistle

A whistle or call is a simple aerophone, an instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a large multi-piped church organ.

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Famous quotes containing the word whistle:

    I hope in these days we have heard the last of conformity and consistency. Let the words be gazetted and ridiculous henceforward. Instead of the gong for dinner, let us hear a whistle from the Spartan fife.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    The bud of the apple is desire, the down-falling gold,
    The catbird’s gobble in the morning half-awake
    These are real only if I make them so. Whistle
    For me, grow green for me and, as you whistle and grow green,
    Intangible arrows quiver and stick in the skin
    And I taste at the root of the tongue the unreal of what is real.
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)

    O he did whistle and she did sing,
    And all the bells on earth did ring
    For joy our Saviour Christ was born
    On Christmas Day in the morning.
    —Unknown. As I Sat on a Sunny Bank. . .

    Oxford Book of Light Verse, The. W. H. Auden, ed. (1938)