bleat

American  

[bleet] / blit /

verb (used without object)

• bleats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bleated,
  past participle,  past
• bleating
  present participle

1. to utter the cry of a sheep, goat, or calf or a sound resembling such a cry.

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verb (used with object)

• bleats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bleated,
  past participle,  past
• bleating
  present participle

1. to give forth with or as if with a bleat.

   He bleated his objections in a helpless rage.

2. to babble; prate.

noun

• bleats
  plural

1. the cry of a sheep, goat, or calf.

2. any similar sound.

   the bleat of distant horns.

3. foolish, complaining talk; babble.

   I listened to their inane bleat all evening.

bleat British  

/ bliːt /

verb

1. (intr) (of a sheep, goat, or calf) to utter its characteristic plaintive cry

2. (intr) to speak with any similar sound

3. to whine; whimper

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noun

1. the characteristic cry of sheep, goats, and young calves

2. any sound similar to this

3. a weak complaint or whine

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• bleater
  noun
• bleating
  noun
• outbleat
  verb (used with object)
• bleatingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bleats
  plural

Participles

• bleating
  present
• bleated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bleat
  simple
• bleats
  simple
• have bleated
  perfect
• has bleated
  perfect
• am bleating
  progressive
• are bleating
  progressive
• is bleating
  progressive
• have been bleating
  perfect progressive
• has been bleating
  perfect progressive

Past

• bleated
  simple
• had bleated
  perfect
• was bleating
  progressive
• were bleating
  progressive
• had been bleating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bleat
  simple
• will have bleated
  perfect
• will be bleating
  progressive
• will have been bleating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of bleat

before 1000; Middle English bleten, Old English blǣtan; cognate with Dutch blaten, Old High German blāzen; akin to Latin flēre to weep

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Explanation

The sound a lamb or calf makes is a bleat. If you hear tiny bleats coming from your barn, you'll know the new baby goats were born at last. Many animals might bleat, though a bleat is a slightly weak, high-pitched sound, which is why it's typically made by young animals. When baby animals bleat, their mothers naturally go to them to feed or comfort them. You might also describe a human's cry or whine as a bleat, if it's particularly pitiful. The word comes from a Germanic root, and it's imitative of the sound itself.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bleat bleats bleated bleating

Only one of the castrati lived to record: Allesandro Moreschi, who sang with a plaintive, eerily haunting bleat, on discs made in the Sistine Chapel between 1902 and 1904.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The following discusses minor spoilers from "The Sheep Detectives," but don't worry — it doesn't include one bleat about who the killer is.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

On “Saturday Night Live,” Gilda Radner mocked Ms. Walters’ voice, which Vogue characterized as “a distinctive Boston bleat at once flat, hoarse and nasal.”

From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2022

Despite clarinet squeaks and the occasional bleat of a rogue saxophone, almost every student was smiling.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 18, 2022

Benefo gets comfortable in his seat and lounges as he watches the cows bleat, eat, and sleep.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Like all the other animals, he expresses himself through bleats, grunts and hugely dynamic facial expressions.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

A heavy quiet hangs over Theofilou's farm in the absence of the bleats from the sheep and the tinkle of their bells.

From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026

The two delight in discovering each other’s cultural differences, even if the alien is occasionally bossy and annoying, say when Rocky bleats “Dirty! Dirty!” upon entering Grace’s astral man cave.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

Sixty Nigerian dwarf goats are taking turns crashing their horns against wooden stalls while unleashing a cacophony of bleats, groans, and retching wails that make it nearly impossible to hold a conversation.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 7, 2023

Out in the fields, a sheep bleats in the pattering rain.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

The animals bleated from behind a wooden fence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2025

One of the 19 animals who survived bleated as Raptis grabbed its face to reveal the burns on its ear.

From Reuters ● Sep. 3, 2023

I have bleated on about it a lot but that is the sort of thing that will make a significant difference to the England side.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2023

For hours, the alarm on the teacher’s bedside monitor bleated.

From New York Times ● Dec. 26, 2020

I fed Milk and Nothing and the chickens, and they all bleated and brayed and clucked at me for more.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

The bleating trumpet on the following “Before I Knew” recalls Mark Isham’s work on the horn when he was in Van Morrison’s band in the early ’80s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

His night ended with him appropriately surrounded in the locker room by teammates who were bleating like goats.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026

The stock market that came in like a roaring lion at the start of the 1920s went out like a bleating lamb at decade’s end.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2025

The neighborhoods that once bustled with traffic and pedestrians were like ghost towns shortly after sunrise, with a heavy silence blanketing the area except for the occasional bleating from a lone goat.

From Seattle Times ● May 2, 2024

Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up.

From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

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