whistle in the dark

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Idioms and Phrases

Summon up courage in a frightening situation, make a show of bravery. For example, They knew they were lost and were just whistling in the dark . This expression alludes to a literal attempt to keep up one's courage. [First half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Photograph: David Bazemore Act Two: A Whistle In The Dark Ira Glass’s faux outrage at the New York Times for moving into his podcast turf feels particularly hypocritical for someone who has tried his hand at almost everything else.

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Yet TE continues to whistle in the dark.

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Neither extreme, Khan seems to suggest, is more than a whistle in the dark, or a vain attempt to define ourselves against the uncaring vastness of the universe.

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Maria Alberg's iconoclastic King John comes back into the repertoire at the RSC in Stratford, and at Oxford Playhouse the wonderful Druid company from Ireland revive three Tom Murphy plays: Conversations on a Homecoming, A Whistle in the Dark and Famine.

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DruidMurphy: Plays by Tom Murphy Three plays by Tom Murphy: “Conversations on a Homecoming,” “A Whistle in the Dark” and “Famine.”

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

whistle for whistle past the graveyard

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