berceuse
Americannoun
plural
berceuses-
a cradlesong; lullaby.
-
a composition for instrument or voice, having a soothing, reflective character.
noun
-
a cradlesong or lullaby
-
an instrumental piece suggestive of this, in six-eight time
Etymology
Origin of berceuse
1875–80; < French, equivalent to berc ( er ) to rock + -euse -euse
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.
"Impossible!" her vanity made reply, and the berceuse which she was playing assumed the character of a triumphal march.
From Project Gutenberg
As she passed each corpse she knelt beside it and sang the foolish little berceuse that Poitou mothers sing to their babies.
From Project Gutenberg
Doubtless she knew it too, as she sat there sewing on the frail garment which lay across her knee and singing blithely under her breath some air with cadence like a berceuse.
From Project Gutenberg
I found him seated in a berceuse on the veranda.
From Project Gutenberg
The plaintive melody of the berceuse rang in her ears on duty and off, till at last she could stand it no longer.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
