yodel

or yo·dle

[yohd-l]

See more synonyms for yodel on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with or without object), yo·deled, yo·del·ing, or (especially British) yo·delled, yo·del·ling.

to sing with frequent changes from the ordinary voice to falsetto and back again, in the manner of Swiss and Tyrolean mountaineers.
to call or shout in a similar fashion.

noun

a song, refrain, etc., so sung.
a call or shout so uttered.

Origin of yodel

First recorded in 1865–70, yodel is from the German word jodeln

Related formsyo·del·er, noun

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

Related Words for yodel

shout, carol, warble, trill

Examples from the Web for yodel

Contemporary Examples of yodel

In a minute he'll yodel like the singing cowboys in the movies he loved so much as a kid.
The Stacks: The Neville Brothers Stake Their Claim as Bards of the Bayou
John Ed Bradley
April 27, 2014

Historical Examples of yodel

Graham promptly answered: "Yes, silly—she'll wear goatskin—and she'll yodel."
Highacres
Jane Abbott
I explored the vicinity of the cave, and risked a yodel or two, but there was no response.
The Boy Scouts Book of Stories
Various
But he did not yodel in the yard or whistle under the window.
Sube Cane
Edward Bellamy Partridge
It immediately became a case of he who laughs first, lives to yodel.
"And they thought we wouldn't fight"
Floyd Gibbons
The case of Yodel, the auctioneer, was even more inscrutable.
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town
Stephen Leacock

British Dictionary definitions for yodel

yodel

noun

an effect produced in singing by an abrupt change of register from the chest voice to falsetto, esp in popular folk songs of the Swiss Alps

verb -dels, -delling or -delled or US -dels, -deling or -deled

to sing (a song) in which a yodel is used

Derived Formsyodeller, noun

Word Origin for yodel

C19: from German jodeln, of imitative origin

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 yodel

1827, from German jodeln, from dialectal German jo, an exclamation of joy, of imitative origin.