Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

yodle

[yohd-l]
verb (used with or without object), yo·dled, yo·dling, noun
  1. yodel.
Show More

yodel

or yo·dle

[yohd-l]
verb (used with or without object), yo·deled, yo·del·ing, or (especially British) yo·delled, yo·del·ling.
  1. to sing with frequent changes from the ordinary voice to falsetto and back again, in the manner of Swiss and Tyrolean mountaineers.
  2. to call or shout in a similar fashion.
Show More
noun
  1. a song, refrain, etc., so sung.
  2. a call or shout so uttered.
Show More

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

Examples from the Web for yodle

Historical Examples

  • Maybe it's C'nelius's yodle; he's been listening for it for a solid week.

    John March, Southerner

    George W. Cable

  • Her lips parted and from her throat came a long, mellow cry not unlike the yodle of the Tyrol.

    When 'Bear Cat' Went Dry

    Charles Neville Buck

  • The yodle (a rolling toowhee toowhee, etc.) is commonest in a flock from birds remaining in one locality, not traveling.

  • The yodle probably corresponds in significance with that of the greater yellow-legs—location.

British Dictionary definitions for yodle

yodle

noun
  1. a variant spelling of yodel
Show More
Derived Formsyodler, noun

yodel

noun
  1. 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
Show More
verb -dels, -delling or -delled or US -dels, -deling or -deled
  1. to sing (a song) in which a yodel is used
Show More
Derived Formsyodeller, noun

Word Origin

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 yodle

yodel

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

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper