wheen


Also found in: Wikipedia.
Related to wheen: mercilessly, supplanter

wheen

(wiːn; Scottish hwiːn)
determiner
1. few; some
2. (preceded by a)
a. a small number of
b. a good number of
c. (as pronoun; functioning as plural): a wheen of years.
[Old English hwēne, instrumental of hwōn few, a few]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

wheen

(ʰwin, win)
Chiefly Scot. adj.
1. few.
n.
2. a few persons or things.
[1325–75; Middle English (north) quheyn, Old English hwēne, instr. case of hwōn few, a few]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Wheen

 a few; not many; a division; a group; a small amount; a fair number.
Examples: wheen of Amazons, 1340; of knaves, 1680; of canny wise professors, 1680.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
I've a great notion of the family, and I mean to do the right by you; but while I'm taking a bit think to mysel' of what's the best thing to put you to -- whether the law, or the meenistry, or maybe the army, whilk is what boys are fondest of -- I wouldnae like the Balfours to be humbled before a wheen Hieland Campbells, and I'll ask you to keep your tongue within your teeth.
The subjects taken up range from nostalgia for the old world of journalism that used to dominate the legendary and Central London Fleet Street (the bulk of the industry is now at the much more distant Canary Wharf, thanks in no small part to Rupert Murdoch, as pointed out by Francis Wheen), to musings on the realities of editorship of a large print publication (there is every danger of becoming an egomaniac, says Henry Porter), to the dangers of women allowing themselves of being relegated to the margins by writing 'as a female' (Zoe Heller).
(8) The environmental castigation of industry was also a financial cleansing, and made post-industrial asset-stripping peculiarly wholesome: Peter Walker, for example, who solicited the opinions of The Ecologist while Secretary of State for the Environment in 1972, was influenced by the notorious asset-stripper Jim Slater, a Goldsmith confidant who would himself become a post-1979 government insider (Wheen, p408).
Have you ever noticed how people fiddle with their hair or clothes wheen they're nervous?
The title of Question Master is passed on wheen another queen is drawn,
It had the Driving Assistance Plus Package onboard, which means you get a whole wheen of exciting options like the Steering Pilot, the DISTRONIC Distance Pilot, Active Emergency Stop Assist and Speed Limit Pilot.
Steve Wheen has kitted out his cute creations with miniature benches, wheelbarrows, bicycles and picket fences to encourage Brummies to come together as families and plant their own seeds.