song
- a short metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad.
- a musical piece adapted for singing or simulating a piece to be sung: Mendelssohn's “Songs without Words.”
- poetical composition; poetry.
- the art or act of singing; vocal music.
- something that is sung.
- an elaborate vocal signal produced by an animal, as the distinctive sounds produced by certain birds, frogs, etc., in a courtship or territorial display.
- for a song, at a very low price; as a bargain: We bought the rug for a song when the estate was auctioned off.
Origin of song
Song
- Ai·ling [ahy-ling] /ˈaɪˈlɪŋ/. Soong, Ai-ling.
- Qing·ling [ching-ling] /ˈtʃɪŋˈlɪŋ/. Soong, Ching-ling.
- Mei·ling [mey-ling] /ˈmeɪˈlɪŋ/. Soong, Mei-ling.
- Zi·wen [zœ-wuhn] /ˈzœˈwʌn/. Soong, Tse-ven.
- Sung.
Related Words for song
lullaby, number, strain, lyric, melody, hymn, poem, anthem, aria, verse, ditty, ballad, refrain, lay, carol, tune, chant, shanty, vocal, airExamples from the Web for song
Contemporary Examples of song
I still do find it a tremendously useful device to invent a character and have the character sing the song.
So we picked out the song (“Rhiannon,” click here for video), and Deer Tick learned it.
So this is Christmas, as the song goes, and what have we done?
And good luck getting the song (and music video) to “Chandelier” out of your head.
The 10 Best Albums of 2014: Taylor Swift, Sia, Run the Jewels, and MoreMarlow Stern
December 28, 2014
And, not entirely coincidentally, he had to do the song on Johnny Carson.
How Martin Luther King Jr. Influenced Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’Peter Guralnick
December 28, 2014
Historical Examples of song
And the wild ducklings are out on the pool, and the woods are full of song.
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
I am considering them apart, and confining myself wholly to the words of the song.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
He took the song from his pocket, and smoothed it out before her on the piano.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
Listen to me, and I will show you how the song ought to have been sung.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
Her heart ascended on a wave of thanks to the giver of song.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
song
- a piece of music, usually employing a verbal text, composed for the voice, esp one intended for performance by a soloist
- the whole repertory of such pieces
- (as modifier)a song book
- poetical composition; poetry
- the characteristic tuneful call or sound made by certain birds or insects
- the act or process of singingthey raised their voices in song
- for a song at a bargain price
- on song British informal performing at peak efficiency or ability
Word Origin for song
Song
- the Pinyin transliteration of the Chinese name for Sung
Word Origin and History for song
Old English sang "voice, song, art of singing; metrical composition adapted for singing, psalm, poem," from Proto-Germanic *sangwaz (cf. Old Norse söngr, Norwegian song, Swedish sång, Old Saxon, Danish, Old Frisian, Old High German, German sang, Middle Dutch sanc, Dutch zang, Gothic saggws), from PIE *songwh-o- "singing, song," from *sengwh- "to sing, make an incantation" (see sing (v.)).
Phrase for a song "for a trifle, for little or nothing" is from "All's Well" III.ii.9 (the identical image, por du son, is in Old French. With a song in (one's) heart "feeling joy" is first attested 1930 in Lorenz Hart's lyric. Song and dance as a form of vaudeville act is attested from 1872; figurative sense of "rigmarole" is from 1895.
Idioms and Phrases with song
song
In addition to the idiom beginning with song
- song and dance
also see:
- for a song
- swan song