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Recent Examples of whinny
J.t. Townley, The New York Review of Books, 6 Mar. 2025
This works, Brian says, and leans back against the wall, the dog panting less, the faint whinny of a horse, an airplane.
—Paul Yoon, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2024
One of the horses fell on its side, its high whinny like a human scream.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 12 Dec. 2022
Laughter punctuates the exaggerated whinnies, proving that the source is not in fact a horse.
—Kalyn Kahler, SI.com, 11 June 2018
But the methodical, meditative act of grooming a horse — brush, brush, brush — and the smell of hay and the gentle whinnies from the 1,200-pound creature have been therapy for Alger.
—Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 17 May 2018
An astonishing collection of laughs — whinnies, giggles, squeals, snorts, heaves — gradually colors the narrative, until this seemingly harmless man becomes, in effect, not just a witness to savagery, but also an accessory.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2018
Animal grunts and growls, horse neighs and whinnies.
—Charles Desmarais, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Apr. 2018
More important, the track is where Charley meets a pretty quarter horse named Lean on Pete, whose velvety brown coat and barely audible whinnies become a balm for the lonely teenager.
—Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2018
Sheryl De Vore, Chicago Tribune, 21 Jan. 2025
That doesn’t include food for the horses, who start whinnying.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2024
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth is one of the oldest proverbs known to humankind, whinnying back at least 1,500 years.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 May 2024
Kenny was large for his age, with a flat, flabby face and a high, whinnying voice.
—Aryn Kyle, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
Waffles, patient and unbothered as onlookers walked around and stopped to gaze, nickered as another horse on the other side of the massive stalls whinnied.
—James Hartley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Jan. 2024
Some unidentified whinnying joins the cacophony that accompanies gentrification—brash and brazen, with a total disregard for anything other than its own bullish desire.
—Rebecca Haithcoat, GQ, 5 June 2018
The 10-year-old mare bucked, whinnied, and galloped, sensing the pride of victory.
—Mitchell Gladstone, Philly.com, 2 June 2018
The forecast was calling for rain the next day, an element as necessary for all this — the flowering plant life, the whinnying animal life — as is the sun.
—John Kelly, Washington Post, 29 Apr. 2018
Verb
Wild ponies, svelte & savage, graze in dune grasses, whinny, yawn.
—J.t. Townley, The New York Review of Books, 6 Mar. 2025
This works, Brian says, and leans back against the wall, the dog panting less, the faint whinny of a horse, an airplane.
—Paul Yoon, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2024
One of the horses fell on its side, its high whinny like a human scream.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 12 Dec. 2022
Laughter punctuates the exaggerated whinnies, proving that the source is not in fact a horse.
—Kalyn Kahler, SI.com, 11 June 2018
But the methodical, meditative act of grooming a horse — brush, brush, brush — and the smell of hay and the gentle whinnies from the 1,200-pound creature have been therapy for Alger.
—Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 17 May 2018
An astonishing collection of laughs — whinnies, giggles, squeals, snorts, heaves — gradually colors the narrative, until this seemingly harmless man becomes, in effect, not just a witness to savagery, but also an accessory.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2018
Animal grunts and growls, horse neighs and whinnies.
—Charles Desmarais, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Apr. 2018
More important, the track is where Charley meets a pretty quarter horse named Lean on Pete, whose velvety brown coat and barely audible whinnies become a balm for the lonely teenager.
—Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2018
Noun
The downy woodpecker also whinnies like a miniature horse throughout the breeding season.
—Sheryl De Vore, Chicago Tribune, 21 Jan. 2025
That doesn’t include food for the horses, who start whinnying.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2024
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth is one of the oldest proverbs known to humankind, whinnying back at least 1,500 years.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 May 2024
Kenny was large for his age, with a flat, flabby face and a high, whinnying voice.
—Aryn Kyle, Harper's Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
Waffles, patient and unbothered as onlookers walked around and stopped to gaze, nickered as another horse on the other side of the massive stalls whinnied.
—James Hartley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Jan. 2024
Some unidentified whinnying joins the cacophony that accompanies gentrification—brash and brazen, with a total disregard for anything other than its own bullish desire.
—Rebecca Haithcoat, GQ, 5 June 2018
The 10-year-old mare bucked, whinnied, and galloped, sensing the pride of victory.
—Mitchell Gladstone, Philly.com, 2 June 2018
The forecast was calling for rain the next day, an element as necessary for all this — the flowering plant life, the whinnying animal life — as is the sun.
—John Kelly, Washington Post, 29 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whinny
Verb
-
Across from them in their usual stalls stood the eight neighing horses.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Jan. 2025
-
The band joked about adding a neighing horse to the intro, and Rimes quickly inserted that sound from his plug-in collection.—
Tom Roland,
Billboard,
30 Jan. 2024
Noun
-
The screech of an infected is the first sign of trouble.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
19 May 2025
-
The constant clang of metal and the screech of drills suggest the sort of work underway at a warehouse-turned-workshop in this Ukrainian city about 300 kilometers (180 miles) east of Kyiv.—
Dominique Soguel,
Christian Science Monitor,
17 June 2025
Verb
-
The soldiers muttered encouragement; their horses nickered.—
Tom Vanden Brook,
USA TODAY,
6 Jan. 2025
-
The soldiers muttered encouragement; their horses nickered.—
Tom Vanden Brook,
USA TODAY,
6 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
When the spotlight hit vocalist Noah Sebastian, a decidedly un-metal chorus of teenage squeals filled the air.—
Cal Roach,
jsonline.com,
5 July 2025
-
The gym was quiet, echoing only the squeal of sneakers and pounding of the basketball instead of the music and laughter that typically accompany a pregame training session.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
5 June 2025
Noun
-
This pageant of puppetry includes a flutter of butterflies, a goat with a plaintive bleat, a menagerie of wild animals and, at one point, a school of glowing fish.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
9 May 2025
-
Moments later, the bear rushes in, bites the fawn in the back, and violently shakes it as the fawn lets out piercing bleats.—
Alice Jones Webb,
Outdoor Life,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The animals use complex clicks, squawks and whistles to call out to each other, fight and attract a mate.—
Sara Hashemi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
25 Apr. 2025
-
The show is thrilling as a sensory experience, humming with sinister percussive beats and the occasional muffled animal squawk in the distance.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
5 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
But the loudest roar — aside the one for the record strikeout — came when Kershaw bounded out of the dugout to start the sixth.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
3 July 2025
-
The rush of wind and thrum of tire roar was punctuated, not by engine revs and tailpipe cackles, but by birdsong.—
Alistair Charlton,
Forbes.com,
3 July 2025
Noun
-
When Yuvi Agarwal began playing keyboard for a room full of dogs at the Denver Animal Shelter on Thursday, the music was hard to distinguish between the barks and yelps of his audience.—
Katie Langford,
Denver Post,
30 May 2025
-
Yungblud’s voice — a piercing yelp that exists somewhere between Gerard Way’s wail and Brian Molko’s sneer — slotted him in the alt-rock world, but his aspirations seemed to stretch far beyond that categorization.—
Maura Johnston,
Rolling Stone,
21 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Whinny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whinny. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
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