/ sɪŋ; NAmE / verb ( sang / sæŋ; NAmE /, sung / sʌŋ; NAmE /)
1.
to make musical sounds with your voice in the form of a song or tune :
[ v ]
She usually sings in the shower.
I just can't sing in tune!
He was singing softly to the baby.
[ vn , vnn ]
Will you sing a song to us?
Will you sing us a song?
[ vn ]
Now I'd like to sing a song by the Beatles.
She sang the baby to sleep (= sang until the baby went to sleep) .
2.
[ v ] ( of birds ) to make high musical sounds :
The birds were singing outside my window.
3.
[ v ] to make a high ringing sound like a whistle :
Bullets sang past my ears.
► sing noun [ sing. ]:
Let's have a sing.
•
IDIOMS
- sing a different tune
- sing from the same hymn / song sheet
—more at fat adjective
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- sing along (with sb/sth) | sing along (to sth)
- sing of sth
- sing out
- sing up
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English singan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zingen and German singen .