trill

[tril]

See more synonyms for trill on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to sing or play with a vibratory or quavering effect.
Phonetics. to produce (a sound) with a trill.
(of birds, insects, etc.) to sing or utter in a succession of rapidly alternating sounds.

verb (used without object)

to resound vibrantly, or with a rapid succession of sounds, as the voice, song, or laughter.
to utter or make a sound or succession of sounds resembling such singing, as a bird, frog, grasshopper, or person laughing.
to execute a shake or trill with the voice or on a musical instrument.
Phonetics. to execute a trill, especially with the tongue, as while singing, talking, or whistling.

noun

the act or sound of trilling.
Music. a rapid alternation of two adjacent tones; a shake.
a similar sound, or succession of sounds, uttered or made by a bird, an insect, a person laughing, etc.
Phonetics.
1. a sequence of repetitive, rapid, vibratory movements produced in any free articulator or membrane by a rush of air expelled from the lungs and often causing a corresponding sequence of contacts between the vibrating articulator and another organ or surface.
2. a speech sound produced by such a trill.

Origin of trill

1635–45; < Italian trillo quaver or warble in singing ≪ Germanic; compare Dutch trillen to vibrate, late Middle English trillen to shake or rock (something)

trill

[tril]Archaic.

verb (used without object)

to flow in a thin stream; trickle.

verb (used with object)

to cause to flow in a thin stream.

Origin of trill

1300–50; Middle English trillen to make (something) turn, to roll, flow (said of tears, water) < Old Danish trijlæ to roll (said, e.g., of tears and of a wheelbarrow); compare Norwegian trille, Swedish trilla. See trill¹

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

Related Words for trilled

quaver, vibrate, vibrato, roll, shake, sound, twirl

Examples from the Web for trilled

Historical Examples of trilled

If she had been a singing-bird she would have trilled to the piano; but she had not a note of music.
Love and Lucy
Maurice Henry Hewlett
I stood there dizzy, watching it die while Tweel trilled and whistled.
A Martian Odyssey
Stanley Grauman Weinbaum
It trilled with a silvery sweetness and was repeated over and over again.
Blackbeard: Buccaneer
Ralph D. Paine
"But we filled his bottle with luck," trilled the silvery lady upstairs.
The King of Alsander
James Elroy Flecker
She trilled like a thrush, or a linnet, or any bird that goes in largely for trilling.
Indiscretions of Archie
P. G. Wodehouse

British Dictionary definitions for trilled

trill

noun

music a melodic ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between a principal note and the note a whole tone or semitone above itUsual symbol: (written above a note) tr., tr
a shrill warbling sound, esp as made by some birds
phonetics
1. the articulation of an (r) sound produced by holding the tip of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge, allowing the tongue to make a succession of taps against the ridge
2. the production of a similar effect using the uvula against the back of the tongue

verb

to sound, sing, or play (a trill or with a trill)
(tr) to pronounce (an (r) sound) by the production of a trill

Word Origin for trill

C17: from Italian trillo, from trillare, apparently from Middle Dutch trillen to vibrate

trill

verb, noun

an archaic or poetic word for trickle

Word Origin for trill

C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; related to Norwegian trilla to roll; see trill 1

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 trilled

trill

1640s, from Italian trillio, triglio "a quavering or warbling in singing," probably of imitative origin. The verb is 1660s, from Italian trillare "to quaver, trill." Related: Trilled; trilling.