How to Use whimper in a Sentence

whimper

1 of 2 verb
  • I could hear the puppy whimpering.
  • She whimpered about having to get up early.
  • Find a comfortable spot away from the chaos to curl up and whimper.
    Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 24 Oct. 2022
  • In the video, my dog Leo whimpers at the sound of whistles.
    Meg Anderson, NPR, 27 Jan. 2026
  • My partner came home from work to find a sullen child whimpering in his room.
    Jann Blackstone, Chicago Tribune, 10 June 2025
  • But Dahlia does not whimper or cry like Constance wants.
    Barry Levitt, Time, 4 Dec. 2025
  • Whenever the chair would hit a small bump, Mom would whimper in pain.
    Scott Bengston, Star Tribune, 3 Aug. 2020
  • Chuck cried and whimpered and suddenly slipped out of his collar.
    Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press, 30 Mar. 2020
  • Animals turned blue and whimpered and died, their eyes bulging and their skin covered over with frost.
    Joanna Robinson, vanityfair.com, 20 Aug. 2017
  • Shrieks erupted in the courtroom and some of his other accusers whimpered and cried.
    Bloomberg.com, 26 Apr. 2018
  • Willow begins to whimper, and backs away from the door—but sits promptly down, still staring at it.
    Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The migrant, his body shaking, stood there, eyes wide, holding his arm, whimpering.
    Alice Driver, Longreads, 31 Jan. 2018
  • But after that leadoff bang, the Red Sox whimpered through the next four innings.
    Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 22 July 2025
  • And when Amazon is involved, anyone standing in its way ends up whimpering.
    Shira Ovide, The Seattle Times, 11 Feb. 2018
  • Teddy’s response is to whimper; there’s no flinching or cowering.
    Wes Siler, Outside Online, 25 Apr. 2020
  • Another shell landed and a woman sitting on the steps, gripping a cane, began to whimper.
    Luke Mogelson, The New Yorker, 23 July 2022
  • Rachel had no mercy and hopped behind the wheel of the blimp and started dive bombing it while Dean whimpered quietly.
    Melissa Locker, Time, 19 June 2017
  • Millan-Vazquez's children could be heard whimpering and crying in the background.
    David K. Li, NBC News, 23 July 2019
  • Laureano’s shin barked again in the A’s series in Cleveland back in May, then the pain whimpered.
    Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 31 July 2019
  • The people in her bedroom that evening began to whimper and eventually sob, as the color drained from Marieke’s face and her lips turned blue.
    Lynsey Addario, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2019
  • The first time Tim Elliott saw Winx, the pit bull was whimpering in the corner of a north-side post office, shot in the face.
    Holly V. Hays, Indianapolis Star, 11 July 2018
  • That admission led to gasps and whimpering by several courtroom observers.
    Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 11 June 2026
  • By 1965, a few juveniles were rolling on their backs and whimpering for attention, just like puppies.
    Popular Science, 10 Feb. 2020
  • The puppy whimpered through the beginning of the flight, but eventually quieted.
    Author: Martine Powers, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Mar. 2018
  • There’s a long alfresco sequence of a crowded lunch, groaning with good food and gossip, that will cause most moviegoers to whimper with envy and yearning.
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Nov. 2021
  • The three added their flowers to the memorial and embraced each other as Annie Guthrie appeared to softly whimper.
    Perry Vandell, AZCentral.com, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Kasian’s mother whimpered and buried her head in her hands and Leibel’s brother, Cody, a high-end property developer, sat stone-faced.
    Marisa Gerber, latimes.com, 20 June 2018
  • Each passenger lets out a combo of scream and whimper in response to Qualify mode's 986 horses.
    Tony Quiroga, Car and Driver, 13 Mar. 2023
  • If the world is going to end with a whimper not a bang, then some of the world’s richest people are going to whimper together in New Zealand.
    Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Arms flew around in exasperation, and the woman left the table for such a long time that the large dog lying at their feet sat up and whimpered in the direction of her departure.
    Literary Hub, 20 May 2026

whimper

2 of 2 noun
  • I could hear the puppy's whimpers.
  • But the story drags and ends with a whimper rather than a bang.
    Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Apr. 2023
  • Brady took one last sack, and the Bucs went out with a whimper.
    Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Jan. 2023
  • And then, from somewhere in the back of the car, came a whimper.
    Alex Postman, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 July 2018
  • The hope is the old one is doing so with a whimper rather than a bang.
    John Rennie Short, The Conversation, 11 Sep. 2025
  • This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.
    Reuven Perlman, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
  • In fact, there weren’t many whimpers or bangs during its six-year run.
    Travis M. Andrews, BostonGlobe.com, 3 May 2018
  • Trump’s war against endless war seems set to end with a whimper, not a bang.
    Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2020
  • Trump’s attempt to weaponize the census ends not with a bang but a whimper.
    Zeke Miller, Twin Cities, 11 July 2019
  • On this raucous night, the home team’s final gasp was more of a whimper.
    Jeff Miller, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2019
  • The only question now is does the coach want to go out with a bang or a whimper?
    Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2022
  • But his campaign started on a whimper, not a bang, and has yet to pick up.
    Tori Otten, The New Republic, 8 Aug. 2023
  • The season respawns, with neither bang nor whimper but a three-cone drill.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2026
  • The Hawks ended their trip out west not with a bang but with very much a whimper.
    Lauren Williams, AJC.com, 16 Jan. 2026
  • The plan died with a whimper last month in Swiss bankruptcy court.
    Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics, 11 Feb. 2019
  • Newton left with a whimper, darting for the exit when class was over.
    Jim Carlton, WSJ, 16 Aug. 2022
  • The pandemic will end with a whimper, not a roar, the piece suggests.
    Robin Lloyd, Scientific American, 26 Mar. 2021
  • The switch puts a whimper of a finale in a tug-of-war that dates back to 1966.
    Clifton Leaf, Fortune, 11 July 2018
  • And that means the Golden State dynasty may go out with a whimper rather than a bang.
    Sopan Deb, New York Times, 9 May 2023
  • The age of gasoline performance cars will end not with a whimper, but the scream and smoke of tortured tires.
    Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 21 Mar. 2023
  • Shohei Ohtani’s two-run homer in the seventh, his sixth of the playoffs, was but a slight whimper of protest.
    Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 25 Oct. 2025
  • For the majority of phone users, the transition will seem like more of a whimper than a bang.
    Boone Ashworth, Wired, 18 Nov. 2021
  • Bitcoin Bitcoin started the year with a bang and ended with a whimper.
    John Towfighi, CNN Money, 31 Dec. 2025
  • Austin Michael’s career began with a comic whimper.
    Thor Christensen, Dallas Morning News, 25 Feb. 2026
  • The observation of a large white dwarf that seems to have been the product of two titchy white dwarfs may support the whimper side.
    Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 29 May 2019
  • As with most of these campaigns against individuals, this one too ended not with a bang but a whimper.
    ArsTechnica, 22 May 2026
  • Under Hiller, the Kings went into the Olympic break with a whimper and came out of it with a moan.
    Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 1 Mar. 2026
  • Just like that, the show was over with a relative whimper, a mixture of boos and cheers serenading the wrestlers.
    David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Dec. 2020
  • Endgame ups the ante ahead of Black Widow, but closes her narrative arc with a whimper.
    Kelsea Stahler, refinery29.com, 12 July 2021
  • In this context, the Atlas II arrived with a whimper rather than a crash.
    New Atlas, 10 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whimper.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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