singsong
Americannoun
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an accent, metre, or intonation that is characterized by an alternately rising and falling rhythm, as in a person's voice, piece of verse, etc
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an informal session of singing, esp of popular or traditional songs
adjective
Etymology
Origin of singsong
Explanation
Anything that's singsong has a musical sound. Kindergarten teachers are generally good at saying things like, "Everybody put your coats on for recess," in a singsong voice. A child will fall asleep easily listening to his dad's singsong reading of a bedtime story; and the singsong call of her master will catch a dog's attention at the dog park. Singsong means just what it sounds like, a rhythmic, chanting kind of almost-singing. In some parts of the world, it's also the same as a singalong, or group song. An earlier meaning, from the 17th century, was "a jingling ballad."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Singsong, merry-go-round, Here we go off to the moon-oh.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was Sunday afternoon, and the band of students who call themselves "The Chinese High School Singsong and Harmonica Corps" were practicing in a second-floor club in one of the busy sections of Singapore.
From Time Magazine Archive
Singsong, sing′song, n. bad singing: drawling: a convivial meeting where every one must sing.—adj. monotonously rhythmical, drawling.—v.t. and v.i. to make songs: to chant monotonously.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
Why, I'd back Barney Crump at our Singsong to lick 'em two times out o' twice!
From Musa Pedestris - Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes [1536 - 1896] by Farmer, John Stephen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
