"pay for one's whistle" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pays for one's whistle",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "paying for one's whistle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "paid for one's whistle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "paid for one's whistle",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "pay<,,paid> for one's whistle"
      },
      "expansion": "pay for one's whistle (third-person singular simple present pays for one's whistle, present participle paying for one's whistle, simple past and past participle paid for one's whistle)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1836, William Nugent Glascock, The Naval Service, page 239",
          "text": "[…] the ship may be on shore before the leader of the band can be convinced how dearly he has \"paid for his whistle.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1891, David Christie Murray, Henry Herman, He Fell Among Thieves, page 30",
          "text": "He felt mightily experienced at this time, and realized, as he thought, quite clearly, the price he had paid for his whistle. He had had his lesson, so he told himself, and had paid for it, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To pay dearly for one's caprice."
      ],
      "id": "en-pay_for_one's_whistle-en-verb-42YLTlYE",
      "links": [
        [
          "pay",
          "pay"
        ],
        [
          "dearly",
          "dearly"
        ],
        [
          "caprice",
          "caprice"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dated) To pay dearly for one's caprice."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "pay for one's whistle"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pays for one's whistle",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "paying for one's whistle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "paid for one's whistle",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "paid for one's whistle",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "pay<,,paid> for one's whistle"
      },
      "expansion": "pay for one's whistle (third-person singular simple present pays for one's whistle, present participle paying for one's whistle, simple past and past participle paid for one's whistle)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dated terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1836, William Nugent Glascock, The Naval Service, page 239",
          "text": "[…] the ship may be on shore before the leader of the band can be convinced how dearly he has \"paid for his whistle.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1891, David Christie Murray, Henry Herman, He Fell Among Thieves, page 30",
          "text": "He felt mightily experienced at this time, and realized, as he thought, quite clearly, the price he had paid for his whistle. He had had his lesson, so he told himself, and had paid for it, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To pay dearly for one's caprice."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "pay",
          "pay"
        ],
        [
          "dearly",
          "dearly"
        ],
        [
          "caprice",
          "caprice"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dated) To pay dearly for one's caprice."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "pay for one's whistle"
}