thrill
[thril]
- to affect with a sudden wave of keen emotion or excitement, as to produce a tremor or tingling sensation through the body.
- to utter or send forth tremulously, as a melody.
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- to affect one with a wave of emotion or excitement.
- to be stirred by a tremor or tingling sensation of emotion or excitement: He thrilled at the thought of home.
- to cause a prickling or tingling sensation; throb.
- to move tremulously; vibrate; quiver.
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- a sudden wave of keen emotion or excitement, sometimes manifested as a tremor or tingling sensation passing through the body.
- something that produces or is capable of producing such a sensation: a story full of thrills.
- a thrilling experience: It was a thrill to see Paris again.
- a vibration or quivering.
- Pathology. an abnormal tremor or vibration, as in the respiratory or vascular system.
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Origin of thrill
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for thrill
Contemporary Examples
For Paul, the thrill of breakfast with the Reverend, may be giving way to the taste of burnt toast.
Get a thrill, get off a lucky shot, take home a trophy, put it up in a secret chamber of our heart.
A wonderful accomplishment by Kevin and his team and a thrill for Les and Leslie Parrott.
How the Religious Right Scams Its Way Onto the New York Times Bestseller ListWarren Throckmorton
November 16, 2014
Most of us in that category can remember the thrill of seeing our words appear in public for the first time.
It surely however gives a certain type of feller a thrill, dark and shameful though it may be.
Historical Examples
There came a thrill in her heart each time she thought of that—that she loved him.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
He clapped his hands, with that thrill of joy which true art will ever give to a true artist.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
The discovery of Tillie's hiding-place interested but did not thrill him.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
The great voice had not caused him to feel any thrill or emotion whatever.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
With his pretty, joyous carol, which should thrill the heart of men?
thrill
- a sudden sensation of excitement and pleasureseeing his book for sale gave him a thrill
- a situation producing such a sensationit was a thrill to see Rome for the first time
- a trembling sensation caused by fear or emotional shock
- pathol an abnormal slight tremor associated with a heart or vascular murmur, felt on palpation
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- to feel or cause to feel a thrill
- to tremble or cause to tremble; vibrate or quiver
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Word Origin
Old English thӯrlian to pierce, from thyrel hole; see nostril, through
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 thrill
v.
c.1300, "to pierce, penetrate," metathesis of Old English þyrlian, from þyrel "hole" (in Middle English, also "nostril"), from þurh "through" (cf. Middle High German dürchel "pierced, perforated;" see through) + -el. Meaning "give a shivering, exciting feeling" is first recorded 1590s, via metaphoric notion of "pierce with emotion." Related: Thrilled; thrilling.
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n.
"a shivering, exciting feeling," 1670s, from thrill (v.). Meaning "a thrilling experience" is attested from 1936.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
thrill
(thrĭl)- The vibration accompanying a cardiac or vascular murmur, detectible on palpation.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.