chirr

American  

[chur] / tʃɜr /

Or chirre,

verb (used without object)

1. to make a characteristic shrill, trilling sound, as a grasshopper.

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noun

1. the sound of chirring.

chirr British  

/ tʃɜː /

verb

1. (intr) (esp of certain insects, such as crickets) to make a shrill trilled sound

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noun

1. the sound of chirring

Etymology

Origin of chirr

First recorded in 1590–1600; alteration of chirp

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chirr

A pensive stillness passed while they listened to the hushed chirr of insects in the trees that surrounded the cemetery like an embrace.

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner

Now an uneasy head is thrust out, and now a whole tiny body, but it soon reënters in another quarter, and at length the stir and chirr grow still.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 92, June, 1865 by Various

The cricket's chirr and the occasional affirmations of the katy-did were the only sounds she heard.

From The Story of a Doctor's Telephone?Told by His Wife by Ellen M. Firebaugh

Their call for food was a sibilant chirr, and they gave it much oftener than any of the grown-up woodpecker notes.

From A-Birding on a Bronco by Florence A. Merriam

It was a hot humid night, with the chirr of queer insects outside mocking with weary iteration the lusty snores of the weary farm hands.

From Blacksheep! Blacksheep! by Meredith Nicholson

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Related Words

• groan
• screech
• squeak

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