whistle for
To request or ask for with no chance of successTo request or ask for with no chance of success.
» Tom started whistling for his dog.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 senses(idiomatic)To request or ask for with no chance of success.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see whistle, for.
Examples
14 sentencesTom started whistling for his dog.
The policeman whistled for the car to stop.
ruПолицейский засвистел, чтобы машина остановилась. — sonick_rnd
The policeman blew his whistle for the car to stop.
deDer Polizist signalisierte dem Wagen mit der Trillerpfeife, dass er anhalten sollte. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
He whistled for his dog.
ruОн позвал свистом своего пса. — Hellerick
deEr pfiff nach seinem Hund. — MUIRIEL
Tom whistled for his dog.
ruТом свистом подозвал собаку. — marafon
deTom pfiff nach seinem Hund. — wolfgangth
Translations
2 languagesForms
whistles for, whistling for, whistled for, whistled for| Base form | whistle for · to whistle for |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | whistles for |
| Present participle | whistling for |
| Past simple | whistled for |
| Past participle | whistled for |
irregular
Phrasal verbs
2 phrasal verbsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Phrasal verbs: introduction — Because it is a phrasal verb
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.