skirling
[skur-ling]
- the act of shrieking.
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Origin of skirling
skirl
[skurl]
- to play the bagpipe.
- Scot. and North England. to shriek.
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- the sound of a bagpipe.
- Scot. and North England. any shrill sound.
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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
Examples from the Web for skirling
Contemporary Examples
He did not imagine he would hear these skirling pipers again.
Historical Examples
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 OpalKatharine Susannah Prichard
Police whistles were skirling around the house of Huang Chow.
Tales of ChinatownSax 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.
LochinvarS. 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 FellowsRobert Barr
skirl
- Scot and Northern English dialect (esp of bagpipes) to emit a shrill sound
- to play the bagpipes
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- the sound of bagpipes
- a shrill sound
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Word Origin
C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; see shrill
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for skirling
skirl
v.
"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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper