whist 
n. infrans. To become silent. 
In silence then, yshrowding him from sight, 
But days twice five he whisted; and refused, 
To death, by speech to further any wight. 
Surrey, JEneid, ii. 
Th' other nipt so nie 
That whigt I couUl not. 
Mir. fur Mags., p. 427. 
Whist^ (hwist), n. [A later form of whisk^. 
The change from whisk-, a word of no very ob- 
vious significance after its first application, was 
prob. orig. accidental, or due to an unthinking 
conformity to ichht^. The notion that the game 
was called whist "because the parties playing 
have to be whist or silent," etjTnologically im- 
probable in itself, is based on the erroneous 
assumption that irhist is the orig. name. The 
rule of silence, so far as it exists, is appar. 
founded, however, in part on the false etymol- 
ogy.] A game played with cards by four per- 
sons, two of them as partners in opposition to 
the other two, also partners. Partnership is deter- 
mined by agreement or by cutting: if by agi-eenient, two 
players, one on each side, cut for deal ; if t)y cutting, the 
two who cut the lowest cards are partners, and the original 
deal belongs to the player who cuts the lowest card. The 
ace is the lowest card in cutting. Previous to play, the cards 
(a full pack) are shuffled. The player on the right of the 
dealer cuts, and the dealer, b^inning with the player on his 
left, distributes in regular order to all the players, one at a 
time, the cards face downward, except the last card, which 
he turns face upward upon the table, at his right hand, 
where it must remain until his turn to play. This is the 
tramp card, and the suit to which it belongs is the trump 
suit ; the other three suits are plain suits. The leader is 
the dealer's left-hand player, who begins the play by throw- 
ing one of his thirteen cards face upward iiiKm the center 
of the table. Second hand, the leader's left-hand player, 
follows with a card of the same suit if he holds one ; if he 
does not hold one, with a card of a plain suit (a discard) or 
with a trump ; third and fourth hands sinularly follow ; 
and the highest card or the highest trump played takes 
the trick. The trick is gathered by the partner of the 
winner; the four cards are made by him into a packet, 
and placed face downward, at his left hand, on the table. 
The winner becomes the leader, and the routine is con- 
tinued until all the cards held are played. Tricks above 
^ in number count a point each upon the score. The 
KCfK is the record kept of the number of p4jint8 made. In 
play the ace is highest, the king, queen, knave, 10, and 9 
are also high cards, the 8 is the middle cant, and the 7 to 
the 2 inclusive are low cards. The rank of the canls is in 
the above order : the queen will take the knave, the will 
take the 5. The ace, king, queen, and knave of the trump 
suit are the honors. Any trump will take any plain-suit 
card. The usual practice is to play with two packs of 
cards, one of these being shuttled or "made up" by the 
partner of the dealer during the deal, and afterward 
S laced by him on the left hand of the next dealer. The 
ealer has the privilege of shuffling l>efore the cards are 
cut. The play is conducted with reference to combina- 
tions of cards held. By the system used the cards are nunle 
conversation^ In EwjlUh or tthrrt whuit the table is 
complete with six candidates. When a rubber has been 
played by four of these (elected by cutting), the other 
two have right of entry. The game is of five jK»ints made 
by tricks and by honors as counted. Four honors held by 
a player, or in conjunction with his partner, count four 
points; three honors similarly held count two iwints. The 
winners of a game score a point (a single) if the adversaries 
have three or four points up ; two jwints (a double) against 
one or two points up ; ana three points (a treble) against 
no score. A rubber (two games won in succession, or two 
won out of three) is always played. Two points for the 
rubber are added to the score of the rubber-winners. 
When three games are played, the value of the opponents' 
Bcore is deducted from the winners' total. Exposeii cards 
(cards seen when they should not l)e played) must be left 
face upward on the table, liable to an adversary's call ; a 
card led out of turn may be called, or, instead, a card of 
another suit ; cards played up<«i a trick may by any idayer 
be ordered to be placed l)efore their respective i)layers; 
a player may ask his partner if he holds a card of a suit 
in which he renounces ; and any player may demand to 
see the last trick that has been turned. In Am-primn 
or tUindard whvd four players form a table. These may 
agree upon or cut for partners. The game is of seven p<Mnts, 
made of tricks and penalties. Credit for all points made 
by both sides is given, the winner of a rubber scoring the 
entire number of points made against the entire number 
made by the opponents. Cards are not called, a trick 
turned caimot Iw shown, honors are not counted, and 
conversation during play is not permitted. Penalties for 
8i>eaklng or demonstration, exposure of cards, or leading 
out of turn, and for rev(»king are payable in points after 
the last card of a hand is played and before the canls are 
cut for the next deal, 
I affirm against Aristotle that cold and rain congregate 
homo^enes, for they gather t4)gether you and your crew, 
at wkitt, punch, and claret. 
Sicijt, To Dr. Sheridan, Jan. 25, 1725. 
Wkist is a language, and every card played an intelli- 
gible sentence. JaiMS Clay. 
At Whint there Is a constant endeavor on the part of 
one side to arrive at the maximum result for their hands 
by the use of observation, memory, hiference, and judg- 
ment, their play being dependent from trick to trick on 
the Inferred jM^sItlon of the unknow?) from observation of 
the known. Cavendvih, i'&rd Essays, p. 0. 
American WhiM is recrt^ative work, enjoyable labor, 
paradoxical as that may seem ; its riddle is fascination ; 
Its practice is intelligent employment; its play is mathe- 
matical induction ; itA result is intellectual gain. 
American WhUt Illm., p. 279. 
Double-dummy whist. Hee dmMp dummy, under 
rf«mm»/.— Dummy whist. Hee dummy, 5. - Duplicate 
6907 
whist, a modification of the game of whist in which by 
an arrangement of boards, indicators, and counters hands 
are preserved after having been once played, enabling 
them to be replayed by the opposing partners. — Fancy 
whist, any form of play that introduces unauthorized 
methods.- Five-point whist, a game without counting 
honors, usually played under such short-whist laws as 
may be applied to it. — Loil|r whist* a game of ten points 
with honors counting. This was the game of the eigh- 
teenth century, played at the English clubs until that 
of five points with hrmors counting, called by Clay short 
whist, was introduced. 
In the author's opinion long whist (ten up) is a far finer 
game than short whist (five up). Short whist, however, 
has taken such a hold that there is no chance of our re- 
verting to the former game. Cavendish, On Whist, p. 51. 
Mongrel whist, a game played in accordance with laws 
or regulations selected from the two authorized methods. 
whistert (hwis'ter), V. t, [A var. of tchisper, 
simulating ip/(i5fl.] To whisper; recite in alow 
voice. 
Then retumeth she home unto the sicke party, . . . 
and whistereth a certaine odde praier with a Pater Noster 
into his eare. Holland, tr. of Camden, II. 147. {Davies.) 
Oft fine whiMring noise shall bring sweete sleepe to thy 
sences. W. Webbe, Eng. Poetry (ed. Arber), p. 75. (Davies.) 
whistersnefett, whistersnivett, «. [Origin 
obscure.] A hard blow; a buffet. [Slang.] 
A good whiMersnefet, truelie paied on his eare. 
Udail, tr. of Apophthegms of Erasmus, p. 112. 
whistle (hwis'l), r. ; pret. and pp. whistled, ppr. 
whistlitiff. [< ME. whistlen, whistelen, whystelen, 
< AS. *hwi.stlia7i (as seen in AS. hwistlere, a^pipev, 
whistler) = leel. hrisla, whisper, = Sw. hvissla, 
wliistle, = Dan. hvislc, whistle, also hiss; freq. 
from an imitative base *hwis: see whisper.'] I, 
iutrans. 1. To utter a kind of musical sound 
by forcing the breath through a small orifice 
formed by contracting the lips. 
Bi3t as capones in a court cometh to mennes whistlynge 
In menynge after mete. Piers Plowman (B), xv. 460. 
A-noon as thei were with-drawen. Merlin whistelid 
lowde. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ill. 666. 
Now give me leve to whistell my fyll. 
Playe of Robyn H»de (Child's Ballads, V. 424). 
Just saddle your horse, young John Forsyth, 
And whvttle, and I'll come soon. 
Kppie Morrie (Child's Ballads, Vf. 263), 
Whistle then to me. 
As signal that thou hear'st something approach. 
Shak.y K. and J., v. 3. 7. 
2. To emit a warbling or sharp, chirping sound 
or song, as a bird. 
Latin was no more difficile 
Thau to a blackbird 'tis to whistle. 
S. Butler, Iludibras, I. i. 54. 
Hedge-crickets sing ; and now with treble soft 
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft, 
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies. 
Keats, To Autumn. 
3. To sound shrill or sharp ; move or rush with 
shrill or wbizzing sound. 
The southern wind 
Doth play the trumpet to his purposes, 
And by his hollow trhiMlintj in the leaves 
Foretells a tempest and a blustering day. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., v. 1. b. 
A bullet whistled o'ur his head. Byron, The Giaour. 
4. To sound a whistle or similar wind- or steam- 
instrument; as, locomotives whistle at cross- 
ings. — 5. To give information by whistling; 
hence, to become informer. 
I keptaye between him and her, for fear shehad whistled. 
Scott, Ony Mannering, xxxiii. 
To go whistle, a milder expression for to go to the deuce, 
or tlie like. 
This being done, let the law go whittle. 
Shak., W. T., iv. 4. 715. 
Your fame is secure ; bid the critics go tvhistle. 
Shcntitone, The I'oet and the Dun. 
To whistle down the Windjto talk to no purpose; hold 
an idle or futile argument.— To whistle for, to summon 
by whistling.— To Whistle for a wind, a superstitious 
practice among old seamen of whistling during a calm to 
obtain a breeze. Such men will not whistle during a 
storm. 
"Doyounotdesiretobefree?" "Desire! aye,thatIdo; 
but I may whistle for that )/i«(i long enough before it will 
blow." Johnston, Chrysal, II. 1.S4. (Davies.) 
Whistling coot, the American black Kcoter, (Kdenna 
americana. M'onnecticut.] See cut umler iKdemia.— 
Whistling dick, (a) Same as whistling thrush. [Local, 
Eng.] {b) An .Australian bird, Collurieincla (or C'Aluro- 
cincla or CollyriocinHa) harmonica, the harmonic thrush 
of Latham, usually placed in the family Laniidse, now in 
the Primw/ndw, or another of this genus, as the Tasma- 
nian C. rectirostris (C. selhyi). The species named are 
9! to 10 inches long, chieHy of a gray color varied with 
brown and white.— Whistling duck, (a) The whistler 
or widgeon, a duck, (h) Same as whistlein'ng. (c) Suine 
as whistling cwf. -Whistling eagle, whistling hawk, 
ifaliastvr sjjhcnurus (one of wliose f'jrnier names was 
Ilaliaetujt rannrus, of Vigors ;um1 Horsfleld, 1S'20). a small 
eagle or large hawk, 'I'l inches long, inhabiting the whole 
of Australia and New Caledonia. It is a congener of 
the wide-sprea<i Pondiclierry eagle, //. indiis.- Whlst- 
whlstle 
ling marmot, the hoar>- marmot. See cut under whist- 
ler, 1 (c).— Whistling plover. See p^oyer.- Whistling 
r&le, sibilant rale. See dry rale, under nUe.— Whistling 
snipe, (a) Same as greenshank. (b) See stiipeA, 1 (c). — 
Whistling swan, (a) The hooper, elk, or whooping 
swan. See swan'i^, 1. (&) In the I'nited States, the com- 
mon American swan, Cygnus americatius or columbianus, 
as distinguished from the trumpeter, C. {olor) buccinator. 
—Whistling thrush, the song-thrush,. jfttrdws mxmcus. 
See cut under thrush. [Local, Eng.] 
II. trans. 1. To form, utter, or modulate by 
whistling: as, to whistle a tune or air. 
Tunes . . . that he heard the carmen whistle. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iii. 2. 342. 
I might as well . . . have whistled jigs to a mile-stone. 
If'. Collins, Moonstone, xxi. 
2. To call, direct, or signal by or as by a whis- 
tle. 
He cast off his friends, as a huntsman his pack, 
For he knew when li« pleased he could wliistle them back. 
Goldsmith, Retaliation. 
The first blue-bird of spritig whistled them back to the 
woods. Lowell, Harvard Anniversai^. 
Sf. To send with a whistling sound. 
The Spaniards, who lay as yet at a good distance from 
them behind the Bushes, as secure of their Prey, began to 
whistle now and then a shot among them. 
Dampier, Voyages, I. 117. 
To whistle off, to send off by a whistle ; send from the 
fist in pursuit of prey ; a term in falconry; hence, to dis- 
miss or send away generally ; turn loose. Nares remarks, 
on the quotation from Siiakspere, that the hawk seems to 
have been usually cast off in this way against the wind 
when sent in pursuit of prey ; with it, or down the wind, 
when turned loose or abandoned. 
If I do prove her haggard, 
Though that her jesses were my dear heart-strings, 
rid whistle her off, and let her down the wind, 
To prey at fortune. ^ Shak., Othello, iii. 3. 262. 
This is he. 
Left to fill up your triumph ; he that basely 
Whistled his honour off to the wind. 
Fletcher, Bonduca, iv. 3. 
whistle (hwis'l), n. [< ME. whistle, ichistel, 
whi/sti/l, wistle, < AS. hwistle, a whistle, a pipe: 
see whistle, v.] 1. A more or less piercing or 
sharp sound produced by forcing the breath 
through a small orifice formed by contracting 
the lips; as, tlie merry whistle of a boy. — 2. 
Any sitnilar sound. Especially — (a) The shrUl note 
of a bird. 
The great plover's human whistle. 
Tennyson, Geraiut. 
(6) A sound of this kind produced on an instrument, espe- 
cially one of the instruments called whistles. See def. 3. 
Ship-lwys . . . 
Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give. 
Shak., Hen. V., iii., ProL 
Sooner the whistle of a mariner 
Shall sleeke the rough curbs of the ocean back. 
Marston, What You Will, v. 1. 
(c) A sound made by the wind blowing through branches 
of trees, the rigging of a vessel, etc., or by a flying missile. 
(d) A call or signal made by whistling. 
Such a high calling therefore as this sends not for those 
drossy spirits that need the lure and whistle of earthly 
preferment, like those animals that fetch and carry for a 
morsell. Milton, On Def. of Hum]). Kemonst. 
They [of Scio] have now no domestic partridges that 
come at a whistle, but great plenty of wild ones of the r&d 
sort. Pococke, Description of the East, II. ii. 9. 
3. An instrument or apparatus for producing 
a whistling sound. Whistles are of various shapes and 
sizes, but they all utilize the principle of the direct flute 
or flageolet— that of a stream <if air so directed through a 
tube as to impinge on a sharp edge. 
With qwisUis, & qwes, (V- other qwaint gere, 
Melody of mowthe myrthe for to-here. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 6051. 
A whistle seems to have been a badge of high command 
in the navy in the sixteenth century. One is mentioned 
in the will of Sir Edward Howard (1512) as hung from a 
rich chain. Fairholt. 
Specifically — (a) The small pipe used in signaling, etc., 
H(>.^ts^vairls' Whistle. 
by boatswains, huntsmen, policemen, etc. (ft) A small tin 
or wooden tube, fitted with a mouthpiece aiul pierced 
generally with six holes, used as a nuisical toy. Often 
cuMed a pen7iy whistle. Sgg flageolet, (c) An instrument 
sounded by escaping steam, used forgiving signals, alarms, 
etc., on railway-engines, steamships, etc. See cuts un- 
der steam-whistle and passenger-engine. — AX one's whis- 
tle, at one's call. 
Ready at his whistle to array themselves round him in 
anns against the iMunmander in chief. 
Macaiday, Hist. Eng., xiii. 
Galton's whistle, an instrument for testing the power 
to hear shrill notes. — To pay for one's whistle, or to 
pay dear for one's whistle, to pny a high price for 
s<unething one fancies; pay dearly for indulging one's 
whim, cnpvice, fancy, or tlie like. 'I'he allusion is to the 
stoi-y Benjamin Fnuiklin tells (Works, ed. 18;i0, II. 182) of 
