skirling

[skur-ling]

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noun Scot. and North England.

the act of shrieking.

Origin of skirling

First recorded in 1775–85; skirl + -ing¹

skirl

[skurl]

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. 2019

Related Words for skirling

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

Examples from the Web for skirling

Contemporary Examples of skirling

He did not imagine he would hear these skirling pipers again.
Michael Daly: My Last Day With JFK
Michael Daly
November 11, 2013

Historical Examples of skirling

Very faint, from far in the distance, there is heard a skirling sound.
The Mob (Third Series Plays)
John Galsworthy
She played absent-mindedly, her fingers skipping and skirling on the notes.
The Black Opal
Katharine Susannah Prichard
Police whistles were skirling around the house of Huang Chow.
Tales of Chinatown
Sax Rohmer
Scarlett came in a moment after and sniffed, with his nose in the air; then he walked to the pan in which the bacon was skirling.
Lochinvar
S. R. Crockett
At last this word was given, and the procession began its march amidst the cheers of the people and a skirling of the pipes.
A Prince of Good Fellows
Robert Barr

British Dictionary definitions for skirling

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 skirling

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.