sing
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to utter words or sounds in succession with musical modulations of the voice; vocalize melodically.
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to perform a song or voice composition.
She promised to sing for us.
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to produce melodious sounds, usually high in pitch, as certain birds, insects, etc..
The nightingale sang in the tree.
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to compose poetry.
Keats sang briefly but gloriously.
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to tell about or praise someone or something in verse or song.
He sang of the warrior's prowess.
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to admit of being sung, as verses.
This lyric sings well.
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to give out a continuous ringing, whistling, murmuring, burbling, or other euphonious sound, as a teakettle or a brook.
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to make a short whistling, ringing, or whizzing sound.
The bullet sang past his ear.
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(of an electrical amplifying system) to produce an undesired self-sustained oscillation.
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to have the sensation of a ringing or humming sound, as the ears.
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Slang. to confess or act as an informer; squeal.
verb (used with object)
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to utter with musical modulations of the voice, as a song.
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to escort or accompany with singing.
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to proclaim enthusiastically.
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to bring, send, put, etc., with or by singing.
She sang the baby to sleep.
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to chant or intone.
to sing mass.
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to tell or praise in verse or song.
noun
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the act or performance of singing.
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a gathering or meeting of persons for the purpose of singing.
a community sing.
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a singing, ringing, or whistling sound, as of a bullet.
verb phrase
abbreviation
verb
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to produce or articulate (sounds, words, a song, etc) with definite and usually specific musical intonation
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to perform (a song) to the accompaniment (of)
to sing to a guitar
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to tell a story or tale in song (about)
I sing of a maiden
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to address a song (to) or perform a song (for)
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(intr) to perform songs for a living, as a professional singer
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(intr) (esp of certain birds and insects) to utter calls or sounds reminiscent of music
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to tell (something) or give praise (to someone), esp in verse
the poet who sings of the Trojan dead
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(intr) to make a whining, ringing, or whistling sound
the kettle is singing
the arrow sang past his ear
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(intr) (of the ears) to experience a continuous ringing or humming sound
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(tr) (esp in church services) to chant or intone (a prayer, psalm, etc)
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(tr) to bring to a given state by singing
to sing a child to sleep
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slang (intr) to confess or act as an informer
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(intr) (in Aboriginal witchcraft) to bring about a person's death by incantation. The same power can sometimes be used beneficently
noun
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informal an act or performance of singing
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a ringing or whizzing sound, as of bullets
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
- missing verb
- singability noun
- singable adjective
- singableness noun
- singing adjective
- singingly adverb
- unsingable adjective
Etymology
Origin of sing
First recorded before 900; Middle English singen, Old English singan; cognate with Dutch zingen, German singen, Old Norse syngva, Gothic siggwan
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.
Ashlee Simpson, it was clear, intended to lip sync, which sort of implied to casual observers that she couldn’t sing.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026
“He’s been dead for two centuries,” she tells a colleague, “but he’s making me want to stand up and sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026
However, the condition worsened, "sometimes causing difficulties when I walk and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way I'm used to," she told NBC News.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
Two years later, near the end of my training, I was sitting in church, listening to the choir sing something beautiful, though I do not recall the precise hymn.
From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026
Then we would sing, haunting, melancholy desert music.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
