/ trɪl; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
a repeated short high sound made, for example, by sb's voice or by a bird
2.
( music ) the sound made when two notes next to each other in the musical scale are played or sung quickly several times one after the other
3.
(also roll ) ( phonetics ) a sound, usually an /r/, produced by making the tongue vibrate against a part of the mouth
■ verb
1.
[ v ] to make repeated short high sounds
SYN warble :
A phone trilled on the desk.
The canary was trilling away happily.
2.
[ v speech ] to say sth in a high cheerful voice
SYN warble :
'How wonderful!' she trilled.
3.
[ vn ] ( phonetics ) to pronounce an 'r'sound by making a trill (3)
—compare roll (10)
••
WORD ORIGIN
mid 17th cent.: from Italian trillo (noun), trillare (verb).