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

There was no insect sound to chirr; No wind to make a little stir.

From The Garden of Dreams by Madison J. Cawein

Nothing broke their stillness save the occasional sharp chirr of a chipmunk, or the tapp, tapp of the little black-and-white wood-peckers on some hollow limb.

From Dusty Star by Olaf Baker

But on leading up his horse within ten or twelve feet of the pin, it gives a little "chirr" and dives down out of sight.

From Wild Animals at Home by Ernest Thompson Seton

I heard the death-moth tick and stir, Slow-honeycombing through the bark; I heard the cricket's drowsy chirr, And one lone beetle burr the dark— The sleeping woodland seemed to purr.

From Poems by Madison Julius Cawein

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Related Words

• groan
• screech
• squeak

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