warble

¹ American  

[wawr-buhl] / ˈwɔr bəl /

verb (used without object)

warbles, present (3rd person singular) warbled, past participle, past warbling present participle

1. to sing or whistle with trills, quavers, or melodic embellishments.

   The canary warbled most of the day.

2. to yodel.

3. (of electronic equipment) to produce a continuous sound varying regularly in pitch and frequency.

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verb (used with object)

warbles, present (3rd person singular) warbled, past participle, past warbling present participle

1. to sing (an aria or other selection) with trills, quavers, or melodious turns.

2. to express or celebrate in or as if in song; carol.

noun

1. a warbled song or succession of melodic trills, quavers, etc.

2. the act of warbling.

warble ² American  

[wawr-buhl] / ˈwɔr bəl /

noun

Veterinary Pathology.

1. a small, hard tumor on a horse's back, produced by the galling of the saddle.

2. a lump in the skin of an animal's back, containing the larva of a warble fly.

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warble ¹ British  

/ ˈwɔːbəl /

verb

1. to sing (words, songs, etc) with trills, runs, and other embellishments

2. (tr) to utter in a song

3. another word for yodel

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noun

1. the act or an instance of warbling

warble ² British  

/ ˈwɔːbəl /

noun

1. a small lumpy abscess under the skin of cattle caused by infestation with larvae of the warble fly

2. a hard tumorous lump of tissue on a horse's back, caused by prolonged friction of a saddle

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unwarbled
  adjective
• warbled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• warbling
  present
• warbled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• warble
  simple
• warbles
  simple
• have warbled
  perfect
• has warbled
  perfect
• am warbling
  progressive
• are warbling
  progressive
• is warbling
  progressive
• have been warbling
  perfect progressive
• has been warbling
  perfect progressive

Past

• warbled
  simple
• had warbled
  perfect
• was warbling
  progressive
• were warbling
  progressive
• had been warbling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will warble
  simple
• will have warbled
  perfect
• will be warbling
  progressive
• will have been warbling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of warble¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun werble, warble “a tune,” from Old North French, from Germanic; compare Old High German werbel “something that turns”

Origin of warble²

First recorded in 1575–85; origin uncertain; compare Middle Swedish varbulde “boil”

Explanation

To warble is to sing in an uneven, quavering voice. You won't win any singing contests if you warble the songs. Think of the class of song birds known as warblers. They have great songs, but they don't sound quite human. They trill, whistle, vibrate and constantly change pitch. That's a warble. Done well, a human warble can be as engaging as it is difficult. But an old lady with unsteady lungs and vocal chords may also warble, and it is neither deliberate nor very pleasing to the ears.

Example Sentences

Brennan Warble, who headed institutional sales, and James Boyle, who ran equity derivatives with Kurtzman, left in October of last year.

From BusinessWeek • Jan. 3, 2011

For a second Warble could see only Petticoat's pink cheeks and perfected eyebrows.

From Ptomaine Street by Wells, Carolyn

Warble as birds in the garden of joy and pray to thy forgiving Lord, so that the souls may rejoice through the psalms of the descendant of David.

From Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas by `Abdu'l-Bahá

That was the way things came to Warble; in slathers—in big fat chunks.

From Ptomaine Street by Wells, Carolyn

"Are you of the cognoscenti?" asked Faith Loveman of Warble.

From Ptomaine Street by Wells, Carolyn

Related Words

• chirp
• trill