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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

whiz.

To make a whirring or hissing sound, similar to that of an object speeding through the air.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/wɪz/
  1. To make a whirring or hissing sound, similar to that of an object speeding through the air.

    US
  2. To rush or move swiftly with such a sound.

    US
  3. To throw or spin rapidly.

    US
    I whizzed the ball past the catcher.
  4. To urinate.

    US · slang · vulgar
    We whizzed in the bushes.
Where this word comes from

Onomatopoeic. Compare huzz, hizz, hiss. In some noun senses perhaps derived from wizard. In the sense “remarkably skilled person”, it may also simply a misspelling of its shortened form wiz, or it may be a shortening of whiz kid, which may have a different origin, perhaps whiz(z) in the sense of “something very remarkable”, attested from 1908, or the interjection (as in whizz-bang or gee whiz). In fact, whiz(z) in the sense of “something very remarkable” may be derived from whizz-bang in the sense of “conspicuously talented”, and in military slang whizz-bang (or whizbang) can mean “an exceptionally skilful person” (attested in 1916 and later), which whiz in the same sense seems to be a shortening of (whence presumably also whiz kid).

noun/wɪz/
  1. A whirring or hissing sound (as above).

    US · countable · uncountable
  2. Someone who is remarkably skilled at something.

    US · countable · informal · uncountable
    He's a whiz with the computers.
  3. An act of urination.

    US · countable · especially · slang · uncountable · vulgar
    I have to take a whiz.
  4. Amphetamine.

    UK · US · slang · uncountable
  5. Pickpocketing.

    UK · US · countable · slang · uncountable · with-definite-article
Where this word comes from

Onomatopoeic. Compare huzz, hizz, hiss. In some noun senses perhaps derived from wizard. In the sense “remarkably skilled person”, it may also simply a misspelling of its shortened form wiz, or it may be a shortening of whiz kid, which may have a different origin, perhaps whiz(z) in the sense of “something very remarkable”, attested from 1908, or the interjection (as in whizz-bang or gee whiz). In fact, whiz(z) in the sense of “something very remarkable” may be derived from whizz-bang in the sense of “conspicuously talented”, and in military slang whizz-bang (or whizbang) can mean “an exceptionally skilful person” (attested in 1916 and later), which whiz in the same sense seems to be a shortening of (whence presumably also whiz kid).

prep/wɪz/
  1. Pronunciation spelling of with.

    US · alt-of · pronunciation-spelling · slang
Where this word comes from

See with.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.