6 N‑COUNT A whistle is a loud sound produced by air or steam being forced through a small opening, or by something moving quickly through the air. □ [+ of ] Hugh listened to the whistle of a train. □ [+ of ] …the whistle of the wind.
7 N‑COUNT A whistle is a small metal tube which you blow in order to produce a loud sound and attract someone's attention. □ On the platform, the guard blew his whistle.
8 N‑COUNT A whistle is a simple musical instrument in the shape of a metal pipe with holes. You play the whistle by blowing into it.
9 → see also tin whistle
10 PHRASE If you blow the whistle on someone, or on something secret or illegal, you tell another person, especially a person in authority, what is happening. □ Companies should protect employees who blow the whistle on dishonest workmates.
11 → see also whistle-blower
12 PHRASE If you describe something as clean as a whistle , you mean that it is completely clean.
whi stle-blower (whistle-blowers ) also whistleblower N‑COUNT A whistle-blower is someone who finds out that the organization they are working for is doing something immoral or illegal and tells the authorities or the public about it. [JOURNALISM ] □ If the government is serious about reducing medical risk, then it must change the law to protect whistle-blowers.
whi stle-blowing also whistleblowing N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Whistle-blowing is the act of telling the authorities or the public that the organization you are working for is doing something immoral or illegal. □ It took internal whistle-blowing and investigative journalism to uncover the rot.
whi stle-stop ADJ [ADJ n] If someone, especially a politician, goes on a whistle-stop tour, they visit a lot of different places in a short time.
whit / h w I t/
1 PHRASE [with neg] You say not a whit or not one whit to emphasize that something is not the case at all. [mainly FORMAL or OLD-FASHIONED , EMPHASIS ] □ He cared not a whit for the social, political or moral aspects of literature.
2 N‑UNCOUNT [usu N n] Whit means the same as Whitsun . □ The orchestra gave its first performance on Whit Monday.
white ◆◆◆ / h wa I t/ (whiter , whitest , whites )
1 COLOUR Something that is white is the colour of snow or milk. □ He had nice square white teeth. □ He was dressed in white from head to toe. ● white|ness N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] Her scarlet lipstick emphasized the whiteness of her teeth.
2 ADJ A white person has a pale skin and belongs to a race which is of European origin. □ He was white, with brown shoulder-length hair and a moustache. ● N‑COUNT [usu pl] Whites are white people. □ It's a school that's brought blacks and whites and Hispanics together.
3 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If someone goes white , the skin on their face becomes very pale, for example because of fear, shock, anger, or illness. □ Richard had gone very white, but he stood his ground. □ [+ with ] His face was white with fury. ● PHRASE If someone looks white as a sheet or as white as a sheet , they look very frightened, shocked, or ill. □ He appeared in the doorway, white as a sheet, eyes wide with horror.
4 ADJ White wine is pale yellow in colour. □ Gregory poured another glass of white wine and went back to his bedroom. ● N‑VAR You can refer to white wine as white . □ I bought a bottle of Californian white.
5 ADJ White coffee has had milk or cream added to it. [BRIT ] □ Wayne has a large white coffee in front of him.
6 ADJ [ADJ n] White blood cells are the cells in your blood which your body uses to fight infection.
7 N‑VAR The white of an egg is the transparent liquid that surrounds the yellow part called the yolk.
8 N‑COUNT The white of someone's eye is the white part that surrounds the coloured part called the iris.
white|board / h wa I tbɔː r d/ (whiteboards ) N‑COUNT A whiteboard is a shiny white board on which people draw or write using special pens. Whiteboards are often used for teaching or giving talks.
whi te Chri st|mas (white Christmases ) N‑COUNT A white Christmas is a Christmas when it snows.
whi te-co llar also white collar
1 ADJ [ADJ n] White-collar workers work in offices rather than doing physical work such as making things in factories or building things. □ White-collar workers now work longer hours.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] White-collar crime is committed by people who work in offices, and involves stealing money secretly from companies or the government, or getting money in an illegal way.
whi te e l|ephant (white elephants ) N‑COUNT If you describe something as a white elephant , you mean that it is a waste of money because it is completely useless. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ The pavilion has become a £14 million steel and glass white elephant.
whi te goods N‑PLURAL People in business sometimes refer to fridges, washing machines, and other large pieces of electrical household equipment as white goods . Compare brown goods .
whi te-hai red ADJ Someone who is white-haired has white hair, usually because they are old.
White|hall ◆◇◇ / h wa I thɔːl/ N‑PROPER Whitehall is the name of a street in London in which there are many government offices. You can also use Whitehall to mean the British Government itself. □ …people with banners marching down Whitehall. □ Whitehall said that it hoped to get the change through by the end of June.
whi te-ho t ADJ If something is white-hot , it is extremely hot. □ It is important to get the coals white-hot before you start.