chirp

[churp]

See more synonyms for chirp on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to make a characteristic short, sharp sound, as small birds and certain insects.
to make any similar sound: The children chirped with amusement.

verb (used with object)

to sound or utter in a chirping manner: The little girl chirped her joy.

noun

a chirping sound.

Origin of chirp

1400–50; late Middle English chyrpynge (gerund); expressive word akin to cheep, chirk, etc.

Related formschirp·er, nounchirp·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for chirp

warble, trill, sound, lilt, tweet, quaver, roll, pipe, call, sing, twitter, chip, tweedle, chirrup, purl, chipper

Examples from the Web for chirp

Contemporary Examples of chirp

In a back room, video poker machines ding and chirp with the occasional squeal of delight from a winner.
Italy’s Billion-Dollar Gambling Epidemic
Barbie Latza Nadeau
January 28, 2013

Historical Examples of chirp

Silence, broken only by the chirp of the cheery little teakettle.
Four Girls and a Compact
Annie Hamilton Donnell
Let us forget for a moment the chirp of the family housekeeper over her gods.
Holbein
Beatrice Fortescue
If you chirp, I'll have to blow the roof of your head off, Gage!
Frank Merriwell Down South
Burt L. Standish
Sparrows begin to chirp, first one, then ten, then thousands.
The Dragon Painter
Mary McNeil Fenollosa
All around him was the chirp and bustle of unseen bird and animal life.
The Status Civilization
Robert Sheckley

British Dictionary definitions for chirp

chirp

verb (intr)

(esp of some birds and insects) to make a short high-pitched sound
to speak in a lively fashion

noun

a chirping sound, esp that made by a bird

Derived Formschirper, noun

Word Origin for chirp

C15 (as chirpinge, gerund): of imitative origin

CHIRP

n acronym for

Confidential Human Incidents Reporting Programme: a system, run by the RAF Institute of Medicine, by which commercial pilots can comment on safety trends without the knowledge of their employers

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

Word Origin and History for chirp

mid-15c. (implied in chirping), echoic, or else a variant of Middle English chirken "to twitter" (late 14c.), from Old English cearcian "to creak, gnash." Related: Chirped. As a noun, attested from 1802.