chirrup
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to chirp.
robins chirruping on the lawn.
-
to make a similar sound.
She chirruped softly to encourage the horse.
verb (used with object)
-
to utter with chirps.
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to make a chirping sound to.
noun
verb
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(esp of some birds) to chirp repeatedly
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to make clucking sounds with the lips
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chirrup
First recorded in 1570–80; variant of chirp
Vocabulary lists containing chirrup
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The chirrup or trill greeting is a melodious sound that cats make when saying hello to preferred individuals.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 5, 2022
Capturing just 20 seconds of a songbird's chirrup, or an elk's bugle, or a kangaroo's chortle often requires hours of stillness and solitude.
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2021
On a visit in June, the central gaming floor buzzes with the grim tension of high-stakes card games, regularly interspersed by the electronic chirrup of slot machines dishing out their jackpots.
From Time ● Jul. 19, 2016
Maltby had a perpetual chirrup of amusing small talk.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 3, 2015
The chirrup of crosswalk signals, the shrieking of sirens, the hissing of air brakes, even the hushed chatter of people strolling on the sidewalk—I heard every sound individually.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Mother monkeys kept up their calls, baby monkeys chirruped.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 7, 2019
“What does July 4th mean to me? Freedom,” Sen. Ron Johnson chirruped on Twitter on Independence Day.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 6, 2018
"There are all sorts of little buttons you can press," he chirruped, adding that lots of children were waiting outside.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 12, 2011
"Well oi tink oi'd be a little bit old for dat, now," chirruped an indignant Doolin.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 8, 2010
Then he rubbed his jaw, and his dæmon chirruped something quietly in his ear.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
Musicians have long incorporated nature's sounds into their music - think of the chirruping in The Beatles' "Blackbird", or the rain falling in "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2024
This gentler visual approach extends to the audio; in “Herons,” one of the diaries accessible from the hub, you’ll hear the quiet chirruping of birds amid bright dawn sun.
From The Verge ● Jul. 15, 2021
I thought back to her newborn sonic effusions as a chirruping cherub on my chest who let forth ribbits during hiccups and sounded at times like a soprano cartoon pterodactyl.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 14, 2021
It reached back and grabbed onto Coleman’s own reference points: the chirruping bebop of Charlie Parker, Southern soul saxophone, the old Jewish prayer songs that he loved.
From New York Times ● Dec. 12, 2017
Filch made a chirruping noise to Mrs. Norris, who stared blankly at Harry for a few more seconds before turning and following her master.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
