Adjacent Words

Trill definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TRILL, n. A quaver; a shake of the voice in singing, or of the sound of an instrument. [See Shake.]
TRILL, v.t. To utter with a quavering or tremulousness of voice; to shake.
The sober-suited songstress trills her lay.
TRILL, v.i. To flow in a small stream, or in drops rapidly succeeding each other; to trickle.
And now and then an ample tear trill'd down
Her delicate cheek.
1. To shake or quaver; to play in tremulous vibrations of sound.
To judge of trilling notes and tripping feet.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a note that alternates rapidly with another note a semitone above it [syn: trill, shake]
2: the articulation of a consonant (especially the consonant `r') with a rapid flutter of the tongue against the palate or uvula; "he pronounced his R's with a distinct trill" v
1: pronounce with a trill, of the phoneme `r'; "Some speakers trill their r's"
2: sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below [syn: warble, trill, quaver]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English; akin to Middle Dutch trillen to vibrate, Swedish trilla to roll Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. to flow in a small stream or in drops ; trickle 2. twirl, revolve transitive verb to cause to flow in a small stream II. noun Etymology: Italian trillo probably of imitative origin Date: 1649 1. a. the alternation of two musical tones a diatonic second apart — called also shake b. vibrato c. a rapid reiteration of the same tone especially on a percussion instrument 2. a sound resembling a musical trill ; warble 3. a. the rapid vibration of one speech organ against another (as of the tip of the tongue against the teethridge) b. a speech sound made by a trill III. verb Date: circa 1667 intransitive verb to play or sing with a trill ; quaver transitive verb to utter as or with or as if with a trill <trill the r> • triller noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a quavering or vibratory sound, esp. a rapid alternation of sung or played notes. 2 a bird's warbling sound. 3 the pronunciation of r with a vibration of the tongue. --v. 1 intr. produce a trill. 2 tr. warble (a song) or pronounce (r etc.) with a trill. Etymology: It. trillo (n.), trillare (v.)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trill Trill, v. i. [OE. trillen to roll, turn round; of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. trilla to roll, Dan. trilde, Icel. [thorn]yrla to whirl, and E. thrill. Cf. Thrill.] To flow in a small stream, or in drops rapidly succeeding each other; to trickle. --Sir W. Scott. And now and then an ample tear trilled down Her delicate cheek. --Shak. Whispered sounds Of waters, trilling from the riven stone. --Glover.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trill Trill, v. t. [OE. trillen; cf. Sw. trilla to roll.] To turn round; to twirl. [Obs.] --Gascoigne. Bid him descend and trill another pin. --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trill Trill, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Trilling.] [It. trillare; probably of imitative origin.] To impart the quality of a trill to; to utter as, or with, a trill; as, to trill the r; to trill a note. The sober-suited songstress trills her lay. --Thomson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trill Trill, v. i. To utter trills or a trill; to play or sing in tremulous vibrations of sound; to have a trembling sound; to quaver. To judge of trilling notes and tripping feet. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trill Trill, n. [It. trillo, fr. trillare. See Trill to shake.] 1. A sound, of consonantal character, made with a rapid succession of partial or entire intermissions, by the vibration of some one part of the organs in the mouth -- tongue, uvula, epiglottis, or lip -- against another part; as, the r is a trill in most languages. 2. The action of the organs in producing such sounds; as, to give a trill to the tongue. d 3. (Mus.) A shake or quaver of the voice in singing, or of the sound of an instrument, produced by the rapid alternation of two contiguous tones of the scale; as, to give a trill on the high C. See Shake.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(trills, trilling, trilled) 1. If a bird trills, it sings with short, high-pitched, repeated notes. At one point a bird trilled in the Conservatory. VERB: V 2. If you say that a woman trills, you mean that she talks or laughs in a high-pitched voice which sounds rather musical but which also sounds rather irritating. 'How adorable!' she trills. VERB: V with quote 3. A trill is the playing of two musical notes repeatedly and quickly one after the other. (TECHNICAL) N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Shake, quaver. II. v. a. Shake, sing with a trill. III. v. n. 1. Quaver. 2. Trickle.

Moby Thesaurus

Bebung, anthem, babble, ballad, bubble, burble, cackle, call, carol, caw, chant, chatter, cheep, chirk, chirp, chirr, chirrup, chitter, choir, chorus, chuck, clack, cluck, cock-a-doodle-doo, coo, croak, cronk, croon, crow, cuckoo, descant, distill, do-re-mi, dribble, drip, drop, drum, falter, flutter, gabble, gaggle, gobble, guggle, gurgle, honk, hoo, hoot, hum, hymn, intonate, intone, lap, leak, leak out, lilt, minstrel, peep, pip, pipe, plash, psalm, purl, quack, quaver, quiver, ripple, roll, roulade, scold, serenade, shake, sing, sing in chorus, slosh, sol-fa, solmizate, splash, squawk, swash, swish, tremble, tremolando, tremolant, tremolo, tremor, trickle, trillet, trilleto, trillo, troll, tweedle, tweedledee, tweet, twit, twitter, vibrato, vocalize, warble, wash, weep, whistle, yodel