笛(ふえ)

ふえ

noun

flute, whistle

1. flute

A musical wind instrument, especially traditional Japanese flutes.

笛(ふえ)を吹(ふ)く。

To play the flute.

I heard the sound of flutes at the festival.

When I was a child, I learned the recorder at school.

縦笛(たてぶえ) = recorder (vertical flute)

My grandfather was good at making flutes from bamboo and often made them for his grandchildren.

The tone of a flute heard from afar on a quiet night makes you feel somehow nostalgic.

2. whistle

An instrument that makes a shrill sound when blown.

The whistle blew.

The referee blew the whistle and stopped the match.

The police officer blew a whistle at the intersection to stop the cars.

When the PE teacher blew the whistle, the students stopped running and gathered together.

It's good to have a disaster whistle on hand to call for help during an earthquake.

防災(ぼうさい)用(よう)の笛(ふえ) = disaster whistle

笛(ふえ) is a general term that covers both musical flutes and signal whistles.

TYPES OF FLUTES:

横笛(よこぶえ): transverse flute (played sideways)
縦笛(たてぶえ): recorder (played vertically) — every Japanese student learns this in school
尺八(しゃくはち): shakuhachi (traditional bamboo flute)
フルート: Western concert flute

WHISTLE USAGE:

COMMON PATTERNS:

core

Added 2026.1.13 0:31 · Revised 2026.5.27 2:11

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