To make soft, weak crying sounds, or to speak in a quiet, trembling voice expressing fear, pain, or sadness.
Likely imitative in origin (from Old English), possibly related to Old Norse 'hvimlandi' (dizzying). The word is onomatopoetic—it sounds like the whining noise itself. Emerged clearly in Middle English.
Animals and humans across cultures use similar whimpering sounds for distress, so this word is genuinely onomatopoetic across multiple languages—it's one of the few words that sounds the same way across human experiences.
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