Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A sudden or capricious idea; a fancy.
- n. Arbitrary thought or impulse: governed by whim.
- n. A vertical horse-powered drum used as a hoist in a mine.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. 6. A pun.
- To turn round; be seized with a whim: also with an indefinite it.
- To turn; cause to turn; turn off or away.
- n. An unexpected or surprising turn; a startling outcome, development, or proceeding; a prank or freak.
- n. A sudden turn or inclination of the mind; a fancy; a caprice.
- n. A simple machine for raising ore from mines of moderate depth. It consists of a vertical shaft carrying a drum, with arms to which horses may be attached, and by which it may be turned. The hoistingrope, passing over pulleys, is wound or unwound on the drum, according to the direction of the horses' motion. Also whimsy, whim-gin, and, in England, gin.
- n. Hence, a mine: as, Tully Whim, in the Isle of Purbeck, England.
- n. A round table that turns round upon a screw. Synonyms and Prank, etc. (see
freak ), humor, crotchet, quirk, whimsy, vagary. - n. The brow of a hill.
- n. The widgeon or whewer, Mareca penelope. See whew-duck.
Wiktionary
- n. A fanciful impulse, or whimsical idea
- n. A large capstan or vertical drum turned by horse power or steam power, for raising ore or water, etc, from mines, or for other purposes
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The European widgeon.
- n. A sudden turn or start of the mind; a temporary eccentricity; a freak; a fancy; a capricious notion; a humor; a caprice.
- n. A large capstan or vertical drum turned by horse power or steam power, for raising ore or water, etc., from mines, or for other purposes; -- called also
whim gin , andwhimsey . - v. To be subject to, or indulge in, whims; to be whimsical, giddy, or freakish.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a sudden desire
- n. an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
Etymologies
- Short for whim-wham, fanciful object.
Examples
““Assuredly, my dear madam,” replied lady Arabella; “for I am certain what you term a whim will prove to be¾””
“Hatred of the Count, mortified self - love, and the resolution to vanquish what he termed the whim of a peevish beauty, would inevitably have precipitated her into difficulties most disastrous, if happily the inconstancy of his nature had not in the end relieved her from his persecution.”
“Changing the nature of these use fees traditionally used to cover internalized infrastructure costs to one of a new general tax subject to state and federal whim is extraordinarlly poor public policy unless there's been a change in the trustwortiness of our electeds that I've missed and Mankiw has discovered.”
Greg Mankiw Pumps for a Higher Gas Tax, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“Doing so on a whim is simply inexplicable behavior tome.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Juveniles on Probation, and Their Parents’ Guns (and Other Weapons)
“In short, everything that allegedly stops living constitutionalism from being mere judicial whim is ignored in thesecases.”
“Expecting cooperation when such can lead to self incrimination on a whim is just as inexplicable.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Juveniles on Probation, and Their Parents’ Guns (and Other Weapons)
“It works for me but I expect that the same Court that showed its disdain in this case for the statutes written in the States can find a reason with mandatory penalties if the whim is present.”
“Companies refuse to expand employment because they have no clue what Obama plans with the economy, they don't know what the rules are and can't plan on the rules not changing at a whim from the president or Congress.”
“More in whim than in hope of result, grinning to himself as he did so, Sheldon raised his automatic pistol and in two seconds sent eight shots scattering through the trees in the direction in which Tudor had disappeared.”
“May 14th, 2008 5: 11 pm ET yea right we all know hillbillary is an actress and a liar who changes her persona at givin whim”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘whim’.
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Coal Mining Terms
Coal mining has engendered fascinating subcultures in industry, labor, music, folklore, environment and energy. It has a rich vocabulary as well, and I've encountered some gorgeous mining words. I...
firedamp, scrip, bituminous, anthracite, company store, blackdamp, brattice, bug dust, tipple, whitedamp, float dust, fly ash and 133 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 376 more...
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Vocab7
beseech, consternation, delectable, garland, gratify, haughty, impetuous, lavish, pluck, ponder, privilege, prostrate and 3 more...
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Lesson 7
Wordly Wise 7 Lesson 7. beseech - whim
beseech, consternation, delectable, garland, gratify, haughty, impetuous, lavish, pluck, ponder, privilege, prostrate and 3 more...
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Vocab Words
Common words and their meanings.
Ra eh RA EH ..............whim, debilitating, grimoire, vain, morphine, shingle, muzzle, moccasin, stifle, fiend, chain of command, clandestine and 9 more...
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lessson 7 vocab
beseech, consternation, delectable, garland, gratify, haughty, impetuous, lavish, pluck, ponder, privilege, prostrate and 3 more...
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Vocab list 6
beseech, consternation, delectable, garland, gratify, haughty, impetuous, lavish, pluck, ponder, privilege, prostrate and 6 more...

Dzichi Hey ruzuzu see bedlam
Feb 26, 2012
ruzuzu Also see bajara. Jan 12, 2011
chained_bear Usage, as a horse-drawn conveyance, on barouche. Oct 21, 2008