to sing or play with a vibratory or quavering effect.
Phonetics. to produce (a sound) with a trill.
(of birds, insects, etc.) to sing or utter in a succession of rapidly alternating sounds.
verb (used without object)
to resound vibrantly, or with a rapid succession of sounds, as the voice, song, or laughter.
to utter or make a sound or succession of sounds resembling such singing, as a bird, frog, grasshopper, or person laughing.
to execute a shake or trill with the voice or on a musical instrument.
Phonetics. to execute a trill, especially with the tongue, as while singing, talking, or whistling.
noun
the act or sound of trilling.
Music. a rapid alternation of two adjacent tones; a shake.
a similar sound, or succession of sounds, uttered or made by a bird, an insect, a person laughing, etc.
Phonetics.
a sequence of repetitive, rapid, vibratory movements produced in any free articulator or membrane by a rush of air expelled from the lungs and often causing a corresponding sequence of contacts between the vibrating articulator and another organ or surface.
a speech sound produced by such a trill.
Origin of trill
1
1635–45; <Italian trillo quaver or warble in singing ≪ Germanic; compare Dutch trillen to vibrate, late Middle English trillen to shake or rock (something)
1300–50; Middle English trillen to make (something) turn, to roll, flow (said of tears, water) <Old Danish trijlæ to roll (said, e.g., of tears and of a wheelbarrow); compare Norwegian trille, Swedish trilla. See trill1
The Benedictions ended, the young man began to trill, but in a weaker voice and without charm.
Yiddish Tales|Various
Though we were some years of age before we heard the trill of a piano, we knew well all about the song of "The Spinning-Wheel."
T. De Witt Talmage|T. De Witt Talmage
You have shut the sunlight from you, and the trill of a thrush pierces you like an arrow.
Tales of the Chesapeake|George Alfred Townsend
Breaking into the trill of the frogs came the song of a lonely whippoorwill.
The Day of the Beast|Zane Grey
She followed it up by using them—she was near enough—to run a trill of kisslets across the paternal forehead.
When Ghost Meets Ghost|William Frend De Morgan
British Dictionary definitions for trill (1 of 2)
trill1
/ (trɪl) /
noun
musica melodic ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between a principal note and the note a whole tone or semitone above itUsual symbol: (written above a note)tr., tr
a shrill warbling sound, esp as made by some birds
phonetics
the articulation of an (r) sound produced by holding the tip of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge, allowing the tongue to make a succession of taps against the ridge
the production of a similar effect using the uvula against the back of the tongue
verb
to sound, sing, or play (a trill or with a trill)
(tr)to pronounce (an (r) sound) by the production of a trill
Word Origin for trill
C17: from Italian trillo, from trillare, apparently from Middle Dutch trillen to vibrate
British Dictionary definitions for trill (2 of 2)
trill2
/ (trɪl) /
verb, noun
an archaic or poetic word for trickle
Word Origin for trill
C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; related to Norwegian trilla to roll; see trill1