chirp

American  

[churp] / tʃɜrp /

verb (used without object)

1. to make a characteristic short, sharp sound, as small birds and certain insects.

2. to make any similar sound.

   The children chirped with amusement.

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verb (used with object)

1. to sound or utter in a chirping manner.

   The little girl chirped her joy.

noun

1. a chirping sound.

chirp ¹ British  

/ tʃɜːp /

verb

1. (esp of some birds and insects) to make a short high-pitched sound

2. to speak in a lively fashion

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noun

1. a chirping sound, esp that made by a bird

CHIRP ² British  

/ tʃɜːp /

acronym

1. 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

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Other Word Forms

• chirper noun
• chirpingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of chirp

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

Example Sentences

First, it identifies the first known example of a "chirp" in a supernova, revealing a new type of observable behavior in stellar explosions.

From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 2026

“But if you had the same player chirp and chirp, that player that’s just always on you, literally anything they say goes through one ear and out the other.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2025

I could hardly take another disappointment delivered with a cheerful chirp to my inbox.

From Slate • Jan. 2, 2025

As a result, the final song features the melodic chirp of a male blackbird, originally recorded in the garden of sound engineer Stuart Eltham three years earlier.

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2024

There was no sound, not even the honk of a frog or the chirp of a cricket.

From "Grendel" by John Gardner

Related Words

• trill
• warble