TRILL


Meaning of TRILL in English

/ 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).

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.