yodel

[ yohd-l ]
See synonyms for: yodelyodeler on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with or without object),yo·deled, yo·del·ing, or (especially British) yo·delled, yo·del·ling.
  1. to sing with frequent changes from the ordinary voice to falsetto and back again, in the manner of Swiss and Tyrolean mountaineers.

  2. to call or shout in a similar fashion.

noun
  1. a song, refrain, etc., so sung.

  2. a call or shout so uttered.

Origin of yodel

1
First recorded in 1835–40, from southern German dialect jodeln, from jo, an exclamation
  • Sometimes yo·dle .

Other words from yodel

  • yo·del·er, noun

Words Nearby yodel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use yodel in a sentence

  • Away in the distance coyotes lifted their yodel, half jocular, half mournful, as a maudlin drunkard sings dolefully a merry tune.

    The Heritage of the Hills | Arthur P. Hankins
  • Then I discovered that there is a trill, a tiny grace note or yodel, at the end of his second note.

    Wilderness Ways | William J Long
  • Jane Abbott turned and looked down, amazed that the mountain girl should have the effrontery to yodel to her.

    Meg of Mystery Mountain | Grace May North

British Dictionary definitions for yodel

yodel

/ (ˈjəʊdəl) /


noun
  1. an effect produced in singing by an abrupt change of register from the chest voice to falsetto, esp in popular folk songs of the Swiss Alps

verb-dels, -delling or -delled or US -dels, -deling or -deled
  1. to sing (a song) in which a yodel is used

Origin of yodel

1
C19: from German jodeln, of imitative origin

Derived forms of yodel

  • yodeller, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012