trill 1
/tril/ , v.t.
1. to sing or play with a vibratory or quavering effect.
2. Phonet. to produce (a sound) with a trill.
3. (of birds, insects, etc.) to sing or utter in a succession of rapidly alternating sounds.
v.i.
4. to resound vibrantly, or with a rapid succession of sounds, as the voice, song, or laughter.
5. to utter or make a sound or succession of sounds resembling such singing, as a bird, frog, grasshopper, or person laughing.
6. to execute a shake or trill with the voice or on a musical instrument.
7. Phonet. to execute a trill, esp. with the tongue, as while singing, talking, or whistling.
n.
8. the act or sound of trilling.
9. Music. a rapid alternation of two adjacent tones; a shake.
10. a similar sound, or succession of sounds, uttered or made by a bird, an insect, a person laughing, etc.
11. Phonet.
a. 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.
b. a speech sound produced by such a trill.
[ 1635-45; trillo quaver or warble in singing trillen to vibrate, late ME trillen to shake or rock (something) ]
trill 2
/tril/ , Archaic., v.i.
1. to flow in a thin stream; trickle.
v.t.
2. to cause to flow in a thin stream.
[ 1300-50; ME trillen to make (something) turn, to roll, flow (said of tears, water) trijlae to roll (said, e.g., of tears and of a wheelbarrow); cf. Norw trille , Sw trilla . See TRILL 1 ]