whispering

Pluralwhisperings (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of whisper.

   He stood whispering in the corner, careful not to be overheard.

   Whispering through the whole lecture, the two students annoyed everyone nearby.

   Note

   The same -ing form does several jobs. It carries the progressive (she was whispering) and the gerund (whispering is rude), and with more and most it becomes the adjective for what whispers. As a verb it goes either way: whispering to a neighbor, or whispering a name. The old use with a person as direct object, whispering someone in the sense of addressing them, is now obsolete.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The soft, hushed sound of people speaking in whispers.

   The whispering of the audience died down as the lights dimmed.

   A constant whispering filled the quiet library reading room.

   Similarmurmuring, murmur, hum

3. 3
   adjective

   Speaking in hushed tones, or producing a soft, murmuring sound of that kind.

   The whispering students leaned close so the teacher wouldn't hear.

   A whispering wind carried the scent of pine across the valley.

   Similarhushed

   Oppositeloud

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A piece of gossip or rumor; something passed along quietly and unofficially.

   A whispering spread through the office that layoffs were coming.

   He dismissed the whispering about the mayor as baseless rumor.

   Similarrumor, gossip, talk, murmur

   Note

   Here the word stops being a sound and becomes a message: the thing said, not the saying of it. Because it names something passed along, it takes a plural freely, as in whisperings of a merger or dark whisperings in the ranks. Set it beside the sound of whispers, which names the hush itself rather than anything the hush carries.

5. 5
   adjective

   Connected with whispers, or with speaking in whispers rather than aloud.

   His rivals launched a whispering campaign to ruin his reputation.

   The two friends kept up a whispering conversation all through the movie.

   Similarhushed

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