хныкать

Russian

Etymology

Onomatopoetic in origin. Compare dialectal хмы́кать (xmýkatʹ, to whine, to whimper), Ukrainian хни́кати (xnýkaty, to whine, to whimper), and similar verbs in other languages, such as Czech kníkati (to whine, to squeal), also kničeti, kňučeti; Polish knychać (to whine, to squeal); Latvian šnukstêt (to sob, to whine), dialectal German schnucken (to sigh, to sob, to whimper).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈxnɨkətʲ]

Verb

хны́кать • (xnýkatʹimpf

  1. (colloquial) to whine, to whimper
  2. (colloquial, figurative) to complain tearfully, to sob

Conjugation

Derived terms

  • хны́кнуть pf (xnýknutʹ)
  • захны́кать pf (zaxnýkatʹ)
  • похны́кать pf (poxnýkatʹ)
  • прохны́кать pf (proxnýkatʹ)
  • хны́канье (xnýkanʹje)