- whisper
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} nounADJECTIVE▪ barely audible, the barest, faint, gentle, hushed, low, mere, quiet, slight (esp. AmE), soft▪
A barely audible whisper came from the closet.
▪Jake got excited at the merest whisper of his lover.
▪ fierce, harsh▪ audible, loud, stage▪‘I knew this would happen,’ he said in a stage whisper (= one that he wanted everyone to hear).
▪ choked (esp. AmE), hoarse, husky▪ excited, urgent▪ conspiratorialVERB + WHISPER▪ hearPREPOSITION▪ above a whisper▪Their voices were very quiet, hardly above a whisper.
▪ in a whisper▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}They spoke in whispers.
verbADVERB▪ gently, quietly, softly▪ loudly▪ hoarsely, huskily▪ fiercely, harshly, urgently▪‘Come on,’ he whispered urgently.
▪ brokenly, shakily▪ angrily, bitterly, furiously▪ conspiratorially▪ excitedly▪ almost, half▪ barely (esp. AmE)▪ back▪‘Yes,’ I whispered back.
VERB + WHISPER▪ can only▪He could only whisper in reply.
▪ hear sb▪She heard him whisper her name.
PREPOSITION▪ about▪I felt that everyone was whispering about me.
▪ against▪‘Hush!’ he whispered against her hair.
▪ through▪‘No!’ he whispered through gritted teeth.
▪ to▪‘Let's go,’ she whispered to Anne.
PHRASES▪ whisper sth in sb's ear, whisper sth into sb's earWhisper is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑voice
Collocations dictionary. 2013.