Whichever
(Which*ev"er Which`so*ev"er) pron. & a. Whether one or another; whether one or the other; which; that
one (of two or more) which; as, whichever road you take, it will lead you to town.
Whidah bird
(Whid"ah bird`) (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of finchlike birds belonging to the genus
Vidua, native of Asia and Africa. In the breeding season the male has very long, drooping tail feathers.
Called also vida finch, whidah finch, whydah bird, whydah finch, widow bird, and widow finch.
Some of the species are often kept as cage birds, especially Vidua paradisea, which is dark brownish
above, pale buff beneath, with a reddish collar around the neck.
Whider
(Whid"er) adv. Whither. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Whiff
(Whiff) n. [OE. weffe vapor, whiff, probably of imitative origin; cf. Dan. vift a puff, gust, W. chwiff
a whiff, puff.]
1. A sudden expulsion of air from the mouth; a quick puff or slight gust, as of air or smoke.
But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword
The unnerved father falls.
Shak.
The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe,
And a scornful laugh laughed he.
Longfellow. 2. A glimpse; a hasty view. [Prov. Eng.]
3. (Zoöl.) The marysole, or sail fluke.
Whiff
(Whiff), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whiffed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Whiffing.]
1. To throw out in whiffs; to consume in whiffs; to puff.
2. To carry or convey by a whiff, or as by a whiff; to puff or blow away.
Old Empedocles, . . . who, when he leaped into Etna, having a dry, sear body, and light, the smoke
took him, and whiffed him up into the moon.
B. Jonson. Whiff
(Whiff), v. i. To emit whiffs, as of smoke; to puff.
Whiffet
(Whif"fet) n. A little whiff or puff.
Whiffing
(Whiff"ing) n.
1. The act of one who, or that which, whiffs.
2. A mode of fishing with a hand line for pollack, mackerel, and the like.
Whiffle
(Whif"fle) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Whiffled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Whiffling ] [Freq. of whiff to puff, perhaps
influenced by D. weifelen to waver.]
1. To waver, or shake, as if moved by gusts of wind; to shift, turn, or veer about. Dmpier.
2. To change from one opinion or course to another; to use evasions; to prevaricate; to be fickle.
A person of whiffing and unsteady turn of mind can not keep close to a point of controversy.
I. Watts. Whiffle
(Whif"fle), v. t.
1. To disperse with, or as with, a whiff, or puff; to scatter. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.
