bleatingn.
/ˈbliːtɪŋ/ a. The crying of a sheep, goat, or calf; also contemptuously said of human utterances.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by noises > voice or sound made by animal > [noun] > bleat > bleating
bleatinga1398
blatting1935
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > subfamily Caprinae (goat) > [noun] > sound made by
bleatinga1398
bleat1600
maaing1826
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > calf > [noun] > sound made by
bleatinga1398
bleat1600
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > defined by habits or actions > sound made by
bleatinga1398
blayinga1586
baa1589
bleat1600
maaing1826
baaing1832
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xlvi. 1197 Þe kyde haþ ful scharp sight... And knoweþ and secheþ his moder wiþ bletynge.
1578 Gude & Godlie Ballates (1868) 163 Sing on guk, guk, the blating of zour queir.
1611 Bible (King James) Judges v. 16 To heare the bleatings of the flocks. View more context for this quotation
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 241 Known by thy bleating, Ignorance thy name.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. III. 343 The brute beasts in their lowing and bleating.
b. attributive (passing into the participial adj.)
ΚΠ
1773 G. White Let. 9 Nov. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 99 In breeding-time the cock-snipes make a bleating noise.
1834 J. Forbes tr. R. T. H. Laennec Treat. Dis. Chest (ed. 4) 429 The voice, having the bleating character strongly marked.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
bleatingadj.
That bleats; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by noises > voice or sound made by animal > [adjective] > that bleats
bleatingc1380
blatant1791
blatting1890
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [adjective] > making sound
bleatingc1380
baa-waymentinga1586
baa-wailing?1614
balant1702
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > subfamily Caprinae (goat) > [adjective] > that makes sound
bleatingc1380
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > calf > [adjective] > that makes sound
bleatingc1380
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. I. 139 Bletyng sheep.
1595 E. Spenser Colin Clouts come Home Againe sig. E2v To draw their bleating flocks to rest.
a1650 D. Calderwood Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1843) II. 157 The queene..and her bleeting preests.
1884 W. Black Judith Shakespeare xxxi Lambs, with bleating oratory, craved the dams' comfort.
Draft additions 1997
ˈbleatingly adv. in a manner suggestive of bleating.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > shrill quality > [adverb]
shilla1250
keenlyc1275
shirla1300
bremelya1375
sharp1377
shillya1400
shirlly1470
shrilly1582
whit1833
squeal1849
reedily1910
bleatingly1934
1934 in N. Webster Dict.
1938 E. Pound Guide to Kulchur viii. 208 Here I am dealing with a heteroclite set of impressions, I trust human, without their being too bleatingly human.
1957 G. Marion tr. J. Paul-Boncour Recoll. Third Republic I. iii. 95 It was at one of these criticisms that an aged general, interrupting him, said bleatingly, ‘But, General, it seems to me that [etc.]’.
1986 Financial Times 11 Mar. i. 23/8 Matthew's function is unclarified... He occasionally bleatingly reminds us that the hero is English.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.a1398adj.c1380