A glossary of Tudor and Stuart words, especially from the dramatists

by Walter W. Skeat

whether, which of the two. Two Noble Kinsmen, iii. 6. 352, ‘Whether of them twayne’, Tyndale, Matt. xxi. 31.

whether whether were, which was which. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 9. 10.

whether, whither. Spenser, F. Q. v. 6. 35.

whew, to whirl, to hurry; ‘I whew it away’, Buckingham, The Rehearsal, ii. 4. 7. So in the Lake country, ‘He whew’d his clog throo t’window’, see EDD. (s.v. Whew, vb.² 2).

whiblin, a trick, device. Marston, Insatiate Countess, ii. 2 (Rogero). Cp. [quiblin]. Cp. the obsolete Dorset word ‘whibble’, to lie (EDD.).

whiblin, an impotent creature; a term of contempt. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, i. 2 (Fustigo). See [whimling].

whids, words; to cut bene whids, to speak good words (Cant). Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1 (Higgen). [A rousing whid, a great lie, Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook, st. 1.] The Slang Dict. (1874) says that whid for a ‘word’ or a ‘falsehood’ is modern slang from the ancient cant.

whiff, a special way of taking tobacco; ‘Capers, healths, and whiffs’, Marston, What You Will, ii. 1 (Laverdure); taking the whiff, B. Jonson, Every Man out of Humour, Character of Shift (prefixed to the play).

whiffler, an officer who clears the way for a procession. Henry V, v, chorus, 12; Peele, Sir Clyomon, ed. Dyce, p. 523. ‘Whifflers’ (fifers) usually went first in a procession; the term was then applied to those who went forward (without any musical instrument) to clear the way for the procession of a sovereign or of a city corporation. See Nares; and EDD. (s.v. Whiffle, vb.¹ 1 (2)).

whiffler, a puffer of tobacco. Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, iv. 1 (Chough).