whistle up

verb

To gather (especially people or dogs) together, calling them by whistling.

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Meanings

verbwhistle up (third-person singular simple present whistles up, present participle whistling up, simple past and past participle whistled up)

present singular third person whistles up · participle present whistling up · participle past whistled up · past whistled up

  1. transitiveTo gather (especially people or dogs) together, calling them by whistling.

    He chanced to miss his dog; we stood still till he had whistled him up.

    1715 March 15 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 22. Friday, March 5. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC
Cite this entry
APA

whistle up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whistle%20up

MLA

“whistle up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whistle%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whistle up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whistle%20up.

Source: whistle up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.