croon

[ kroon ]
See synonyms for croon on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object)
  1. to sing or hum in a soft, soothing voice: to croon to a baby.

  2. to sing in an evenly modulated, slightly exaggerated manner: Popular singers began crooning in the 1930s.

  1. to utter a low murmuring sound.

  2. Scot. and North England.

verb (used with object)
  1. to sing (a song) in a crooning manner.

  2. to lull by singing or humming to in a soft, soothing voice: to croon a child to sleep.

noun
  1. the act or sound of crooning.

Origin of croon

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English cronen, from Middle Dutch: “to lament”

Other words from croon

  • croon·er, noun
  • croon·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use croon in a sentence

  • She sat where he had left her, and was crooning again the weird tuneless dirge at which Marto had been appalled.

    The Treasure Trail | Marah Ellis Ryan
  • They sat there in the dark room for a long time, the girl rubbing Bumper's head and back and crooning gently to him.

    Bumper, The White Rabbit | George Ethelbert Walsh
  • Twas a quiet sea, breaking, in crooning lullaby, upon the rocks below my bedroom window.

  • Out on the plains the fourth guard were drowsily crooning the lullaby about the bull that "came down the hillside, long time ago."

    The Pony Rider Boys in Texas | Frank Gee Patchin
  • I rolled about in the dry leaves, playing with them and making crooning, rasping noises in my throat.

    Before Adam | Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for croon

croon

/ (kruːn) /


verb
  1. to sing or speak in a soft low tone

noun
  1. a soft low singing or humming

Origin of croon

1
C14: via Middle Dutch crōnen to groan; compare Old High German chrōnan to chatter, Latin gingrīre to cackle (of geese)

Derived forms of croon

  • crooner, 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