skirl

[skurl]

See more synonyms for skirl on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to play the bagpipe.
Scot. and North England. to shriek.

noun

the sound of a bagpipe.
Scot. and North England. any shrill sound.

Origin of skirl

1350–1400; Middle English scirlen, skrillen (v.), perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Norwegian skrella boom, crash

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for skirl

blare, hiss, sound, signal, whine, warble, pipe, toot, whiz, wheeze, blast, shriek, fife, trill, tootle, flute, skirl

Examples from the Web for skirl

Historical Examples of skirl

Dancing was engaged in around the bonfire to the skirl of the philabeg.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, February 4, 1914
Various
Come here—or stay where ye are, and skirl as loud as ye can; it's a' ye're gude for.
Bride of Lammermoor
Sir Walter Scott
Then a skirl of laughter, the piercingness of which, near to, could only be guessed at.
The Disturbing Charm
Berta Ruck
Cannot one hear the skirl of the pipes amid that din of cannon and musketry?
The Red Year
Louis Tracy
Shriller than the scream of shells above them was the skirl of pipes, going with them.
Now It Can Be Told
Philip Gibbs

British Dictionary definitions for skirl

skirl

verb (intr)

Scot and Northern English dialect (esp of bagpipes) to emit a shrill sound
to play the bagpipes

noun

the sound of bagpipes
a shrill sound

Word Origin for skirl

C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; see shrill

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for skirl

"to make a shrill sound," mid-15c., from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norwegian skyrlaskrella "to shriek"), of imitative origin. In reference to bagpipes, it is attested by 1660s and now rarely used otherwise. As a noun 1510s from the verb.