鼠ねずみ鳴なき

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru'

whistling of a prostitute to attract customers

Historical term referring to a practice in Edo-period red-light districts. The word is now encountered mainly in historical or literary contexts.

• 江え戸ど時じ代だいの遊ゆう郭かくでは、鼠ねずみ鳴なきで客きゃくを呼よび込こむことがあった。

  In the pleasure quarters of the Edo period, prostitutes sometimes whistled to attract customers.

• 「鼠ねずみ鳴なき」という言こと葉ばは、現げん代だいではほとんど使つかわれない。

  The word 鼠鳴き is hardly used today.