whey meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

whey

noun

/hweɪ/ · /weɪ/

Etymology From Middle English whey, wheye, whei, from Old English hwǣġ, hwæiġ, hwæġ, hweġ (“whey”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwaij (“whey”) (cognate with Saterland Frisian Waai, Woaie, West Frisian waai, Dutch wei, Low German Wei, German Low German Wei), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- (“to pile up, build”) (compare Old Church Slavonic чинъ (činŭ, “order”), Ancient Greek ποιέω (poiéō, “to pile up, make”), Sanskrit कय (káya, “every one”)).

Usually The liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained in the process of making cheese.

Little Miss Muffet, She sat on a tuffet, Eating of curds and whey; There came a little spider, Who sat down beside her, And frighted Miss Muffet away.1805, Songs for the Nursery, page 23:
{...} if I wished any blessing in the world, it was to find him a worthy object of pride; and I’m bitterly disappointed with the whey-faced, whining wretch!1847, Emily Brontë, chapter XX, in Wuthering Heights:

Derived terms: curds and whey, green whey, sack-whey, wheyey, wheyface, whey-faced, wheylike, wine whey
Related terms: bland, buttermilk, milk, yogurt
Coordinate terms: curds

whey

intj

Etymology Onomatopoeic, variation on wahey.

UK, Dated A shout for attention

He swayed over to the door, peered out, shouted "whey!" and came back, looking severe.1928, Ruth Manning-Sanders, Waste Corner:
somebody who was more or less to their senses, shouted... ' Whey! ... Had on lads!' and everybody was trying to get wocken up and sorted out.1982, Frank Entwisle, Abroad in England:

UK A shout of enthusiasm or delight

... apart from Max, who rode his pallet like a surfboard with a huge grin plastered across his face. “Wheyyyyyyy!” Max yelled with delight.2011 September 1, Case File 12: The Case of the Messy Mucked Up Masterpiece, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
Several drunken men shouted from the corner. “Wheyyyy, showtime! Go on, go on!”2016 December 30, Hahn Moo-Sook, The House of Pomegranate Trees, Literature Translation Institute of Korea, →ISBN:

UK Shouted when someone drops a glass or other crockery, especially in a pub.

12. Smashing a glass and the whole bar choruses "WHEYYYY".2014 February 18, Catriona Harvey-Jenner, “25 things only bar staff will understand”, in Cosmopolitan UK:
If they don't shout "wheyyy" when you smash a glass, did it even smash?2020 February 10, Claire Galloway, “15 things only people who have worked in an Edinburgh pub will understand”, in Edinburgh Live:

1 more example

the sloshed post-work boozers all shout "Wheyyyyyyy!' at a glass that's smashed on the floor2024 May 9, Oisín McKenna, Evenings and Weekends, HarperCollins UK, →ISBN: