warble
1- to sing or whistle with trills, quavers, or melodic embellishments: The canary warbled most of the day.
- to yodel.
- (of electronic equipment) to produce a continuous sound varying regularly in pitch and frequency.
- to sing (an aria or other selection) with trills, quavers, or melodious turns.
- to express or celebrate in or as if in song; carol.
- a warbled song or succession of melodic trills, quavers, etc.
- the act of warbling.
Origin of warble
1Examples from the Web for warbling
Contemporary Examples of warbling
And Christopher Walken warbling and doing a little soft-shoe?
Then, after a long wait, a man begins to play a song on a zither-like instrument, singing an exotic, warbling tune.
It began in November when Paltrow slipped into a tiny dress and delivered a warbling performance at the CMA Awards.
I can hear her now warbling her own rendition of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow."
Historical Examples of warbling
Very soon I heard a low, warbling sound which seemed quite near.
Green MansionsW. H. Hudson
Above him all the birds were warbling their morning song up into the blue sky.
What Sami Sings with the BirdsJohanna Spyri
And whilst she was warbling the door of the salle opened and in walked Laurent.
Despair's Last JourneyDavid Christie Murray
The swans are warbling your name and so are half a dozen pesky Yankee Parrotts.
The Long RollMary Johnston
It must be near to her: it was warbling there, perhaps she could grasp it with her hand.
Debts of HonorMaurus Jkai
warble
1- to sing (words, songs, etc) with trills, runs, and other embellishments
- (tr) to utter in a song
- US another word for yodel
- the act or an instance of warbling
Word Origin for warble
warble
2- a small lumpy abscess under the skin of cattle caused by infestation with larvae of the warble fly
- a hard tumorous lump of tissue on a horse's back, caused by prolonged friction of a saddle
Word Origin for warble
Word Origin and History for warbling
warble
c.1300, from Old North French werbler "to sing with trills and quavers," from Frankish *werbilon (cf. Old High German wirbil "whirlwind," German Wirbel "whirl, whirlpool, tuning peg, vertebra," Middle Dutch wervelen "to turn, whirl"); see whirl. The noun meaning "tune, melody" is recorded from c.1300. Related: Warbled; warbling.