peal

From Middle English pele, peil, probably an apheretic variant of Middle English apel, appel, from Old French apel (“an appeal; pealing of bells”). Compare appeal.

der

Whether thoſe peales of praiſe be his or no.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 174, column 2:

a fair peal of artillery

a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] for Iohn Partridge, […], published 1630, →OCLC:

and the deep thunder, peal on peal, afar

1816, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Third, London: Printed for John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza XXV:

Mrs. Green burst out into one of those peals so peculiarly British.

1828, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XVI, in Pelham; or, The Adventures of a Gentleman. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 112:

And, falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks, I could not help joining; and we laughed together, peal after peal[…]

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

And she has half a mind to weep again now, for Jack Brotherhood, as the front doorbell sounds through the house like a bugle call, three short peals as ever.

A loud sound, or a succession of loud sounds, as of bells, thunder, cannon, shouts, laughter, of a multitude, etc.


purl

en-verb

purl (third-person singular simple present purls, present participle purling, simple past and past participle purled)

purls (present singular third-person)
purling (participle present)
purled (participle past)
purled (past)

From Old Norse purla (“to babble”), possibly ultimately from an imitative Germanic base related to Dutch polder, Norwegian puldra (“to gush”) and pulla (“to bubble”), Old English polr (“marsh”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

Swift o'er the rolling pebbles, down the hills, / Louder and louder purl the falling rills.

1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book XXI”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:

There is a water-break formed by a small terrace of rock in mid-stream, and purling with a hollow, delicious monotone—an island of pebbles is above, with here and there smaller ones near the "forks."

1846 October, Alfred B[illings] Street, “A Day’s Hunting about the Mongaup”, in George R[ex] Graham, editor, Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, volume XXIX, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa.: George R. Graham & Co., […], →OCLC, page 190:

At seven minutes past four, while a Bach sonata was purling under the din of the crowd, the President's reaching hand was struck aside, and a man lurched forward. Two shots cracked sharply. There was a moment of dead silence.

1959, Margaret Leech, “Appointment at Buffalo”, in In the Days of McKinley, New York: Harper & Brothers, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 595:

[T]he road purled out ahead of us for miles, all prospect and promise, like the beginning of a long, good friendship.

2023 October 23, Murr Brewster, “Grizzlies and caribou and wolves, oh my! Savoring Denali’s delights.”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

(intransitive) To flow with a murmuring sound in swirls and eddies.

ромоля

to make the sound of gently running water


purl

imitative

Whose streame an easie breath doth seeme to blowe; Which on the sparkling grauell runns in purles, / As though the waues had been of siluer curles

1591–1619, Michael Drayton, “(please specify the page)”, in J[ohn] Payne Collier, editor, Poems by Michael Drayton. […], London: […] J[ohn] B[owyer] Nichols and Sons, […] [for the Roxburghe Club], published 1856, →OCLC:

Whatsoever had a beginning, can also have an ending; and it shall die, unless it be daily watered with the purls flowing from the fountain of life, and refreshed with the dew of heaven, and the wells of God: […]

1668, Jeremy Taylor, “Twenty-seven Sermons Preached at Golden Grove; Being for the Summer Half-year, […]: Sermon VIII. A Funeral Sermon, &c.”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume VI, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, page 453:

A circle made by the motion of a fluid; an eddy; a ripple.

the purl of a brook

A gentle murmuring sound, such as that produced by the running of a liquid among obstructions.


sough

en-verb

sough (third-person singular simple present soughs, present participle soughing, simple past and past participle soughed)

soughs (present singular third-person)
soughing (participle present)
soughed (participle past)
soughed (past)

From Middle English *sough, swough, swogh, from Middle English swoȝen, swowen, from Old English swōgan (“to make a sound; move with noise; rush; roar”), from Proto-West Germanic *swōgan, from Proto-Germanic *swōganą from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weh₂gʰ-, same source as Latin vāgiō and likely English echo (via Ancient Greek). Cognate with Scots souch (“sough”), Icelandic súgur (“a rushing sound, rustle”). Noun replaced Middle English swei, sweȝ from Old English swēg. More at swoon.

cog

I lay awake for a while that evening, listening to the soughing of the wind high in the pines, realizing sadly that we must now return to civilization.

1963, Sterling North, Rascal, Avon Books, page 101:

To make a soft rustling or murmuring sound.


sough

[...] Arthur; a fearful night it was: there was a sough in the air, a sound drawing nigh like that of a host marching:- — but you're looking pale and forwrought, man; is any thing ailing ye?

1829, John Carne, Stratton Hill: A Tale of the Civil Wars, volume 1, page 131:

The whispering leaves or solemn sough of the forest.

1838, William Howitt, The Rural Life of England:

Syenite hears the distant sough of waves rolling against rocks, somewhere below the slope on which they lie.

2015, N. K. Jemisin, chapter 16, in The Fifth Season:

A murmuring sound; rushing, rustling, or whistling sound.

(Scotland, obsolete) A cant or whining mode of speaking, especially in preaching or praying.


thrum

onomatopoeic

Imitative

This doesn’t detract from the fun of bargaining at the variety of Hong Kong’s night markets (those who don’t like to haggle should stay away) that often thrum with shoppers till midnight. The best in town are the Ladies’ Market, for inexpensive women’s clothing, bags, and accessories, and the Temple Street Night Market, for an astonishing selection of everything from clothes and CDs to luggage and shoes—even fortune tellers—at the Yau Ma Tei end of the street.

2011, Patricia Schultz, “Hong Kong”, in 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, 2nd edition, Workman Publishing, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 489, column 2:

a profusion of insects, which produced a continuous thrum

2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian:

Pungent sweat and heatedly trodden grass, fumes of tea and porter, thrum of hooves from the paddock, the strikings-up and dyings-down of the band all fused into an extreme for Antonia, whose own senses, boatful, stood up to it.

1955, Elizabeth Bowen, chapter 2, in A World of Love:


yammer

en-verb

yammer (third-person singular simple present yammers, present participle yammering, simple past and past participle yammered)

yammers (present singular third-person)
yammering (participle present)
yammered (participle past)
yammered (past)

From Middle English ȝameren, ȝaumeren, yemeren, ȝomeren, from Old English ġeōmrian (“to lament”), from Proto-West Germanic *jāmarōn, from Proto-Germanic *jēmarōną (“to show misery or sadness”), from Proto-Germanic *jēmaraz (“miserable, sorrowful, sad”), from Proto-Indo-European *yem- (“to hold, match, defeat”). Reinforced by cognate Middle Dutch jammeren (modern Dutch jammeren), from the same ultimate origin. Cognate also with Scots yammer, Saterland Frisian jammerje, West Frisian jammerje, German Low German jammern, German jammern, Danish jamre, Norwegian jamre. Compare also Old Norse amra (“to howl, wail, yammer”).

cog

(transitive) To repeat on and on, usually loudly or in complaint.

ismételget

to repeat on and on, usually loudly or in complaint

It was a ship, but a whale to the Dark Nebula’s minnow; and on its side was the Spaceship-and-Sun of the Empire. Every alarm on the ship yammered hysterically.

1951, Isaac Asimov, ““The Merchant Princes”, chapter 17”, in Foundation, part V, Panther Books Ltd, published 1974, page 182:

(intransitive, rare) To make an outcry; to clamor.


yammer

The ungodly scream of Jap wings in the wind, and the blood-chilling snarl and yammer of their aerial machine gun and aerial cannon fire was enough to make the very ground shake and tremble.

1943, R. Sidney Bown, chapter 12, in Dave Dawson with the Flying Tigers, Akron, Ohio: Saalfield Publishing Company:


yip

Possibly from dialectal yip (“to cheep like a bird”), from Middle English ȝyppe, probably imitative.

I've never hunted myself, but I understand that half the battle is being able to make noises like some jungle animal with dyspepsia, and I believe that Aunt Dahlia in her prime could lift fellow-members of the Quorn and Pytchley out of their saddles with a single yip, though separated from them by two ploughed fields and a spinney.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:


yip

en-verb

yip (third-person singular simple present yips, present participle yipping, simple past and past participle yipped)

yips (present singular third-person)
yipping (participle present)
yipped (participle past)
yipped (past)

to bark with a sharp, high-pitched voice


chime

chime (third-person singular simple present chimes, present participle chiming, simple past and past participle chimed)

chimes (present singular third-person)
chiming (participle present)
chimed (participle past)
chimed (past)

From Middle English chime, chim, chimbe, chymbe, a shortening of chimbelle (misinterpreted as chymme-belle, chimbe-belle), from Old English ċimbala, ċimbal (“cymbal”), from Latin cymbalum.

It shall not keep one settled pace of time,
In the same tune it shall not always chime

a. 1667, Abraham Cowley, Ode Upon Liberty:

To make a rude correspondence of sounds; to jingle, as in rhyming.


buzz

en-noun

buzz (countable and uncountable, plural buzzes)

From Middle English *bussen, of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle English bunning (“buzzing”), Middle English hossing (“buzzing”), Middle English bissen (“to hush”).

(uncountable) Synonym of fizz-buzz (“counting game”)


chirp

en-verb

chirp (third-person singular simple present chirps, present participle chirping, simple past and past participle chirped)

chirps (present singular third-person)
chirping (participle present)
chirped (participle past)
chirped (past)

From Middle English *chirpen (attested only in the derivative Middle English chirpinge, cyrpynge, chyrypynge (“chirping”). Compare Middle English chirken and chirmen. More at chirk, chirm. Compare also Middle English chirten (“to smack, chirrup”).

noncog

"Well, I suppose you didn't come out of the egg either before you could chirp," said the woman who was on the egg.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 95:

(intransitive) To make a short, sharp, cheerful note, as of small birds or crickets; to chitter; to twitter.

(transitive, obsolete) To cheer up; to make (someone) happier.

(Canada) To speak rapid insulting comical banter back and forth.

(UK, slang, obsolete) To inform on someone; snitch.


clamor

en-noun

clamor (countable and uncountable, plural clamors)

Recorded in English since c. 1385, as Middle English clamour, from Old French clamor (modern clameur), from Latin clāmor (“a shout, cry”), from clāmō (“cry out, complain”); the sense to silence may have a distinct (unknown) etymology.

For when he knew his Rival freed and gone, / He ſwells with Wrath; he makes outrageous Moan: / He frets, he fumes, he ſtares, he ſtamps the Ground; / The hollow Tow'r with Clamours rings around: […]

1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, book I, page 17:

A great outcry or vociferation; loud and continued shouting or exclamation.


clamor

en-verb

clamor (third-person singular simple present clamors, present participle clamoring, simple past and past participle clamored)

clamors (present singular third-person)
clamoring (participle present)
clamored (participle past)
clamored (past)
clamour (alternative)

Anyone who tastes our food seems to clamor for more.

All the universities are sending in long petitions to restrict their production. Otherwise, they say, mankind will become extinct through lack of fertility. But the R. U. R. shareholders, of course, won't hear of it. All the governments, on the other hand, are clamoring for an increase in production, to raise the standards of their armies. And all the manufacturers in the world are ordering Robots like mad.

c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act 2:


clang

1570, of imitative origin; Compare also Saterland Frisian Kloang, West Frisian klank, Dutch klank, German Klang (from klingen), Danish and Swedish klang, Latin clangere.

Bang, bang, Maxwell's silver hammer
Came down upon her head
Clang, clang, Maxwell's silver hammer
Made sure that she was dead

1969, Paul McCartney (lyrics and music), “Maxwell's Silver Hammer”, in Abbey Road, performed by The Beatles:

A loud, ringing sound, like that made by free-hanging metal objects striking each other.

The cry of some birds, including the crane and the goose.


clang

clang (third-person singular simple present clangs, present participle clanging, simple past and past participle clanged)

clangs (present singular third-person)
clanging (participle present)
clanged (participle past)
clanged (past)

Middlesbrough will wonder whether it might have been different if the volley that Jelle Vossen slashed towards John Ruddy’s net after nine minutes had been a couple inches lower rather than clanging off the crossbar. They should not dwell on that moment too long, however.

2015 May 25, Daniel Taylor, “Norwich reach Premier League after early blitz sees off Middlesbrough”, in The Guardian (London):

A cell door clanged metallically and Wentworth was flung inside. He tripped, collapsed upon the concrete floor.

1933, Norvell Page, Wings of the Black Death:

The clanging and groaning of the train came nearer, and it staggered slowly into the station like a prey- laden monster into its lair.

1920, Edith Wharton, chapter XXIX, in The Age of Innocence:

Then the sparks flew from the anvil while the great hammer clanged on the metal, shaping it, and Henry begged to be allowed to try it

1917, Rose Wilder Lane, Henry Ford’s Own Story:

(intransitive) To give out a clang; to resound.


clang

Imitative of a loud metallic ringing sound.


growl

From Middle English groulen, grollen, gurlen (“of the bowels: to growl, rumble”), either possibly from Old French groler (variant of croler (“to be agitated, shake”)), grouler, grouller (“to growl, grumble”), from Frankish *grullen, *gruljan or from Old English gryllan, both from Proto-Germanic *gruljaną (“to make a sound; to growl, grumble, rumble”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to make a noise; to mumble, murmur; to rattle; to grind; to rub, stroke”), probably ultimately imitative. The word is cognate with Middle Dutch grollen (“to make a noise; to croak, grumble, murmur; to be angry”) (modern Dutch grollen (“to grumble”)), German grollen (“to rumble; to be angry, bear ill will”), Old English grillan, griellan (“to provoke, offend; to gnash the teeth”). Compare grill.
The noun is derived from the verb.


growl

en-verb

growl (third-person singular simple present growls, present participle growling, simple past and past participle growled)

growls (present singular third-person)
growling (participle present)
growled (participle past)
growled (past)
groil (alternative)
groul (alternative)

The dog growled at me as I walked past.

[T]here are Wolf-Whelps in Palaces, and Governments, as well as in Cottages, and Forreſts. […] They go out however, as there is Occaſion, and Hunt and Growle for Company; but at the ſame time, they give the Sign out of their Maſters hand, hold Intelligence with the Enemy; and Make uſe of their Power and Credit to Worry Honeſter Men them Themſelves.

1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Æsop, &c.] Fab[le] CLV. A Shepherd and a Wolves Whelp [Reflexion].”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 140:

Let bears and lions growl and fight, / Let bears and lions growl and fight, / For 'tis their nature too, / For 'tis their nature too.

1806, [Isaac] Watts, B. Jacobs [i.e., Benjamin Jacob], “Let Dogs Delight to Bark and Bite. Song 16.”, in Dr. Watts’ Divine & Moral Songs […], London: Printed for & sold by the author, […], →OCLC, page 18:

"All's for the worst" is a very common motto, and under its influence there are thousands who growl when they go to bed, and growl still louder when they get up; who growl at their breakfast, who growl at their dinner, who growl at their supper, and who growl between meals. Discontent is written in every feature of their visage; […]

1841, “Fydget Fyxington”, in Charles Dickens, editor, The Pic Nic Papers. […] (Collection of Ancient and Modern British Authors; CCCXXX), Paris: Baudry’s European Library, […]; and Stassin et Xavier, […], →OCLC, page 225:

Lord Derby growled,—growling especially at Mr. [William Ewart] Gladstone,—and the Archbishop of Canterbury growled, and the Bishop of Oxford growled, and the Marquis of Bath (a good Conservative) growled, but he (the Marquis) growled at the Government rather than at the Bill.

1868 April 25, The Spectator: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature, Theology, and Art, volume 41, number 2078, London: John Campbell, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 482, column 2:

April woke in darkness to the sound of Baron growling. Not that she could hear the dog, exactly. He was far out in the backyard at the edge of the woods. […] April waited for the dog to settle down. Instead, his growling grew deeper.

2016, Ted Sanders, “April”, in The Harp and the Ravenvine (The Keepers; 2), New York, N.Y.: Harper, →ISBN:

(intransitive) To utter a deep guttural sound, as an angry animal; to give forth an angry, grumbling sound.


hoot

hoot (third-person singular simple present hoots, present participle hooting, simple past and past participle hooted)

hoots (present singular third-person)
hooting (participle present)
hooted (participle past)
hooted (past)

From Middle English houten, huten, hoten, of North Germanic origin, from or related to Old Swedish huta (“to cast out in contempt”), related to Middle High German hiuzen, hūzen (“to call to pursuit”), Swedish hut! (“begone!”, interjection), Dutch hui (“ho, hallo”), Danish huj (“ho, hallo”).

der

Matrons and girls shall hoot at thee no more,

1711, John Dryden, “Satire IX”, in Dryden’s Juvenal:


howl

From Middle English howlen, houlen, from Old English *hūlian, from Proto-West Germanic *hūilōn, from Proto-Germanic *hūwilōną, *hiuwilōną (“to howl”), from Proto-Indo-European *kū-, *kew- (“to howl, scream”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian huulje (“to howl”), Dutch huilen (“to howl”), Romanian a hăuli (“to howl”), Old French ouler, German Low German hulen (“to howl”), German heulen (“to howl”), Danish hyle (“to howl”), Swedish yla (“to scream, yell”), Northern Luri آلٛیر (āłir, “howl”).

[T]he fox was out on love-adventures, abused his rivals, and uttered scoffing screams and howls.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 117:

All at once the cat thrust her paw inside the ring again, but the tailor was quick as lightning and chopped the paw off. The cats set up a terrible howl, and away they rushed through the door as fast as they could.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 159:

Dan was beginning to feel very depressed when suddenly the eerie howl of a dingo rang out[.]

1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 13, column 2:

The protracted, mournful cry of a dog, wolf or other canid; also of other animals.

عُوَاء

protracted, mournful cry of a dog or a wolf

The howl of the wind

A prolonged cry of distress or anguish; a wail.


howl

en-verb

howl (third-person singular simple present howls, present participle howling, simple past and past participle howled)

howls (present singular third-person)
howling (participle present)
howled (participle past)
howled (past)

who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl

Methought a legion of foul fiends / Environ'd me about, and howled in my ears.

c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:

VVhen ominus ſignes to ſhew themſelues began, / That novv at hand this monſtrous birth fore-ran: / About at noone flew the affrighted Ovvle, / And dogs in corners ſet them dovvne to hovvle: […]

1627, Michaell [i.e., Michael] Drayton, “[Elegies upon Sundry Occasions.]”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for William Lee, […], →OCLC, page 223:

To utter a loud, protracted, mournful sound or cry, as dogs and wolves often do.

عَوَى

to utter a loud, protracted, mournful sound or cry, as dogs and wolves often do

Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 13:6:

To utter a sound expressive of pain or distress; to cry aloud and mournfully; to lament; to wail.

أَنَّ

to utter a sound expressive of pain or distress

They howled with laughter at the prank.

Wild howl'd the wind the forest glades along, / And oft the owl renew'd her dismal song; […]

1809, Walter Scott, “[Fragments, […].] The Poacher”, in The Poetical Works of Walter Scott, Esq. […], volume XI, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Company] for Arch[ibald] Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; and John Murray, published 1820, →OCLC, page 180:

To make a noise resembling the cry of a wild beast.


lap

lap (third-person singular simple present laps, present participle lapping, simple past and past participle lapped or (archaic) lapt)

laps (present singular third-person)
lapping (participle present)
lapped (participle past)
lapped (past)
lapt (archaic participle past)
lapt (archaic past)

From Middle English lappen, from Old English lapian, from Proto-Germanic *lapōną, *lapjaną (“to lick; lap”), from imitative Proto-Indo-European *leh₂b- (“to lap, lick”); akin to Old High German laffen (“to lick”), Old Norse lepja, Danish labe, Old Saxon lepil, German Löffel (“spoon”). Cognate with Latin lambere (“lick”). French lamper is a loanword from German. Compare Danish leffe, dialect German läffeln.

onomatopoeic

imitative

der

I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, / And the wild water lapping on the crag.

1870, Alfred Tennyson, “The Passing of Arthur”, in The Holy Grail and Other Poems, London: Strahan and Co., […], →OCLC, page 144:

(intransitive, of water) To wash against a surface with a splashing sound; to swash.

плискам

to wash against a surface with a splashing sound


plash

From Middle English plasch, plasche, from Old English plæsċ (“pool, puddle”), from Proto-West Germanic *plask, probably ultimately imitative.
Cognate with Dutch plas (“pool, watering hole”). Related also to West Frisian plaskje (“to splash, splatter”), Dutch plassen (“to splash, splatter”), German platschen (“to splash”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

Presently a gondola passed along the canal with its slow rhythmical plash, and as we listened we watched it in silence.

A splash, or the sound made by a splash.


shout

From Middle English shouten. Further origin uncertain. Possibly related to Middle English shooten (“to shoot (out)”) or from or akin to Old Norse skúta (“to chide, scold”), Old Norse skúti, skúta (“a taunt”). See also the second, rare sense of the verb scout (“to reject with contempt”).

“I′ll get my wine though,” taking out her wallet.
“No. This is my shout,” holding up his hand as though to ward her money off.

1984, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, page 290:

Cut to the pub on a lads night out,
Man at the bar cos it was his shout

2008, George Papaellinas, The Trip: An Odyssey, re.press, Australia, page 6,
It was always my shout down the pub with Theo.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) A round of drinks in a pub; the turn to pay the shot or scot; an act of paying for a round of drinks.

Next up the new single from Beyoncé, but first a shout to Barry Bloggins and his wife Belinda...

(informal) A greeting, name-check or other mention, for example on a radio or TV program.


shout

en-verb

shout (third-person singular simple present shouts, present participle shouting, simple past and past participle shouted)

shouts (present singular third-person)
shouting (participle present)
shouted (participle past)
shouted (past)

They shouted thrice; what was the last cry for?

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

5 And it shall come to passe that when they make a long blast with the rammes-horne, and when ye heare the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout: and the wall of the citie shall fall downe flat, and the people shall ascend vp euery man straight before him.[…]
10 And Ioshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, vntill the day I bid you shoute, then shall ye shoute.[…]
15 And it came to passe on the seuenth day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the citie after the same maner, seuen times: only on that day they compassed the citie seuen times.
16 And it came to passe at the seuenth time, when the Priests blewe with the trumpets, Ioshua said vnto the people, Shout, for the Lord hath giuen you the citie.[…]
20 So the people shouted when the Priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to passe when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell downe flat, so that the people went vp into the citie, euery man straight before him, and they tooke the citie.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joshua 6:5–20:

"I decided to do it [stand for election] because I'd been interested in politics for a long time and, like lots of people, had spent a lot of time shouting at the radio.

2020 June 3, Lilian Greenwood talks to Paul Stephen, “Rail's 'underlying challenges' remain”, in Rail, page 31:

(intransitive) To utter a sudden and loud cry, as in joy, triumph, exultation or anger, or to attract attention, to animate others, etc.

They shouted his name to get his attention.

(transitive) To utter with a shout; to cry; to shout out

After shouting me a plate of noodles and limp vegetables, he helped me change money by introducing me to the stallholder who offered the best exchange rates.

1999, Peter Moore, The Wrong Way Home: London to Sydney the Hard Way, page 301:

2003, Peter Watt, To Chase the Storm, Pan MacMillan Australia, unnumbered page,
‘I have not seen my cousin Patrick in years,’ Martin answered defensively. ‘I doubt that, considering the way our lives have gone, an officer of the King′s army would be shouting me a drink in Mr O′Riley′s pub these days. […] ’

Anyhow, he obviously bore no grudge against Kiwis, for he shouted me a beer and opened another one for himself, punctuating the operation with a spectacular and resounding fart that by all the laws of physical science should have left his trousers flapping in smouldering shreds.

2005, George G. Spearing, Dances with Marmots: A Pacific Crest Trail Adventure, page 32:

2010, Ivan Dunn, The Legend of Beau Baxter, HarperCollins Publishers, New Zealand, unnumbered page,
Truth is, I notice the other blokes who have been shouting me nodding among themselves and thinking they′d better get in the queue if I am buying. Not likely. I am out of there.

(Australia, New Zealand, slang) To pay for food, drink or entertainment for others.


slam

en-noun

slam (countable and uncountable, plural slams)

desctree

→ French: chelem, schelem
→ English: chelem
→ Polish: szlem

Unknown and long-speculated, though perhaps at least reinforced by Etymology 1. Doublet of chelem.

(countable, bridge) A bid of six (small slam) or seven (grand slam) in a suit or no trump.


slap

en-noun

slap (countable and uncountable, plural slaps)

From Middle English slappen, of uncertain origin, possibly imitative. Compare Low German Slappe (“slap”), whence also German Schlappe (“defeat”). Compare also Italian sleppa (“slap”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

the slap of my feet on the bathroom tiles

(countable) A sharp percussive sound like that produced by such a blow.

Havens goes into the terrific Freedom for an encore, which will turn out to be a highlight of the movie; its chopped guitar and conga slaps pre-empt late 90s R&B.

2019 August 15, Bob Stanley, “'Groovy, groovy, groovy': listening to Woodstock 50 years on – all 38 discs”, in The Guardian:

(countable, music) The percussive sound produced in slap bass playing.


slap

en-verb

slap (third-person singular simple present slaps, present participle slapping, simple past and past participle slapped)

slaps (present singular third-person)
slapping (participle present)
slapped (participle past)
slapped (past)

onomatopoeic

imitative

He slapped the reins against the horse's back.

(transitive) To cause something to strike soundly.


smack

From Middle English *smakken, from Middle Dutch smacken (modern Dutch smakken (“to smack, pop, hurl down, crash”)), from Old Dutch *smakkon, from Proto-West Germanic *smak(k)ōn. Cognate West Frisian smakke, Middle Low German smacken (“to hit, hurl, fling”), Plautdietsch schmaksen (“to smack the lips”), German schmatzen (“eat noisily”), regional German schmacken, Schmackes (“vigour”) (compare Swedish smak (“slap”), the first part of Saterland Frisian smakmuulje (“to smack, slap”)).

cog

he took the bride about the neck. And kissed her lips with such a clamorous smack.

c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

Then he told them of the princess, how she came to him, and how much she had to kiss him to get the whistle, when nobody saw or heard it over in the wood - "I must get on with these lies if the vat is to be full," said Ashiepattle, - so he told them about the queen, how stingy she was with the money and how liberal she was with kisses, that one could hear the smacks all over the wood.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 178:


smack

en-verb

smack (third-person singular simple present smacks, present participle smacking, simple past and past participle smacked)

smacks (present singular third-person)
smacking (participle present)
smacked (participle past)
smacked (past)

A horse neighed, and a whip smacked, there was a whistle, and the sound of a cart wheel.

1832, Benjamin Disraeli, Contarini Fleming:


snap

en-noun

snap (countable and uncountable, plural snaps)

From Dutch snappen (“to bite; seize”) or Low German snappen (“to bite; seize”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *snappōn, from Proto-Germanic *snappōną (“to snap; snatch; chatter”), intensive form of *snapāną (”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse snapa (“to get; scrounge”)), from Proto-Indo-European *snop-; compare Lithuanian snãpas (“beak, bill”). (One alternative hypothesis links the Germanic words to *snu-, an expressive root deriving words meaning “nose”, “snout”, “sniff” etc., but this is phonetically unsound.) In any case influenced by onomatopoeia; note expressions such as snip-snap, containing the formally unrelated snip.
Cognate with West Frisian snappe (“to get; catch; snap”), German schnappen (“to grab”), Swedish snappa (“to snatch”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

gloss

”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse <i class="Latn mention" lang="non">snapa</i> (“to get; scrounge”)

sound-symbolic

expressive

onom

onomatopoeia


snap

sound-symbolic

expressive

onom

onomatopoeia

The cry used in a game of snap when winning a hand.


snarl

en-verb

snarl (third-person singular simple present snarls, present participle snarling, simple past and past participle snarled)

snarls (present singular third-person)
snarling (participle present)
snarled (participle past)
snarled (past)

Frequentative of earlier snar (“to growl”), perhaps from Middle Low German snorren (“to drone”), of probably imitative origin. Equivalent to snar + -le. Related to German schnarren (“to rattle”) and schnurren (“to hum, buzz”).

(intransitive) To growl angrily by gnashing or baring the teeth; to gnarl; to utter grumbling sounds.

(transitive) To complain angrily; to utter growlingly.


snarl

The act of snarling; a growl; a surly or peevish expression; an angry contention.

A growl, for example that of an angry or surly dog, or similar; grumbling sounds.


shriek

From obsolete shrick (1567), shreke, variants of earlier screak, skricke (before 1500), from Middle English scrycke, from a North Germanic/Scandinavian language (compare Swedish skrika, Danish skrige, Icelandic skríkja), from Proto-Germanic *skrīkijaną, *skrik- (compare English screech). More at screech.

Shrieks, clamours, murmurs, fill the frighted town.

1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

Sabor, the lioness, was a wise hunter. To one less wise the wild alarm of her fierce cry as she sprang would have seemed a foolish thing, for could she not more surely have fallen upon her victims had she but quietly leaped without that loud shriek?

1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter 5, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, 1914 June, →OCLC:

A sharp, shrill outcry or scream; a shrill wild cry caused by sudden or extreme terror, pain, or the like.


toot

en-noun

toot (countable and uncountable, plural toots)

Probably onomatopoeic in origin. Compare Dutch toeteren (“to blow a horn”), German tuten, Swedish tuta, Danish tude.
Noun sense 7 ("Mastodon post") and verb sense 10 ("to post on Mastodon") are influenced by tweet (“Twitter post”).

He gave a little toot of the horn, to get their attention.

(countable) The noise of a horn or whistle.


toot

en-verb

toot (third-person singular simple present toots, present participle tooting, simple past and past participle tooted)

toots (present singular third-person)
tooting (participle present)
tooted (participle past)
tooted (past)

In the court, in the noblemen's houses, at every merchant's house, those Observants were spying, tooting, and looking, watching and prying, what they might hear or see against the see of Rome.

1550 November 9, Hugh Latimer, A Sermon preached at Stamford:

Long wandering up and downe the land, With bowe and bolts in either hand, For birds in bushes tooting.

1579, Edmund Spenser, The Shepheardes Calender:

The island rang, as yet, with the tooting horns and rattling teams of mail-coaches.

1855, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Newcomes:

A horn tooted to the right, and I saw the black people run.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 205:

To produce the noise of a horn or whistle.

To cause a horn or whistle to produce a noise.

I had graduated from the simple tooting cocaine up my nose to smoking it, which was a completely different experience and animal.

2008, Robert L. Glover, Street Corner Symphony: An American Story, page 65:


wail

wail (third-person singular simple present wails, present participle wailing, simple past and past participle wailed)

wails (present singular third-person)
wailing (participle present)
wailed (participle past)
wailed (past)

c. 1300, Middle English weilen, waylen (“to sob, cry, wail”), from Old Norse væla (“to wail”), from væ, vei (“woe”), from Proto-Germanic *wai (whence also Old English wā (“woe”) (English woe)), from Proto-Indo-European *wáy.
The verb is first attested in the intransitive sense; the transitive sense developed in mid-14ᵗʰ c.. The noun came from the verb.

(intransitive) To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.


wail

She let out a loud, doleful wail.

A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.

The wail of snow-dark winter winds.

A bird's wail in the night.

Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.

A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.


wheeze

From Middle English whesen, perhaps from Old Norse hvæsa (“to hiss”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwes- (“to pant”).

An ordinary whisper exaggerated so as to produce the hoarse sound known as the "stage whisper"; a forcible whisper with some admixture of tone.


splat

I didn't see the egg fall, but I heard the splat when it hit the floor.

The sharp, atonal sound of a liquid or soft solid hitting a solid surface.

(computing, slang) The Command key on an Apple Macintosh.

A move in playboating involving stalling in place while positioned vertically against a solid object in the water.


babble

en-noun

babble (usually uncountable, plural babbles)

From Middle English babelen, from Old English *bæblian, also wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), from Proto-West Germanic *bablōn, *wablōn, variants of *babalōn, from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰa-bʰa-, perhaps a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to say”), or a variant of Proto-Indo-European *baba- (“to talk vaguely, mumble”), or a merger of the two, possibly ultimately onomatopoeic/mimicry of infantile sounds (compare babe, baby).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), West Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), Dutch babbelen (“to babble, chat”), German Low German babbeln (“to babble”), German babbeln (“to babble”), Danish bable, bavle (“to babble”), Swedish babbla (“to babble”), Icelandic babla (“to babble”). Unrelated to Babel.

cog

[M]an has an instinctive tendency to speak, as we see in the babble of our young children; whilst no child has an instinctive tendency to brew, bake, or write.

1871, Charles Darwin, “Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Part I (On the Descent of Man), page 55:

Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.


scritch

Perhaps it is the owlet's scritch:
For what can aid the mastiff bitch ?

1793, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel:


scritch

en-verb

scritch (third-person singular simple present scritches, present participle scritching, simple past and past participle scritched)

scritches (present singular third-person)
scritching (participle present)
scritched (participle past)
scritched (past)


scritch

To make a light scratching sound, like a small animal burrowing.


scritch

A light scratching sound, like a small animal burrowing.

Sugar demands scritches alternating with sinking her beak into my fingers because I'm not doing it to suit her.

2010, Marguerite Floyd, The Parrot Reckonings, →ISBN:

“It really does have to work out,” she said, setting Toby's carrier up on the kitchen table. “Because otherwise you'll be reduced to standing on a street corner and offering kitty head scritches for money. And none of us want to see you stoop that low."

2015, Maisey Yates, Part Time Cowboy, →ISBN:

And they almost always gave good scritches, so they couldn't be bad people, could they? Did bad people scritch right?

2015 -, L. A. Kornetsky, Clawed: A Gin & Tonic Mystery, →ISBN, page 79:


hum

From Middle English hummen (“to hum, buzz, drone, make a murmuring sound to cover embarrassment”); akin to Dutch hommelen (“to bumble, buzz”), dialectal Dutch hommen (“to buzz, hum”), Middle High German hummen (“to hum”), probably ultimately of imitative origin.

onomatopoeic

imitative

you do provide me hum enough , And lour to bouse with

c. 1622, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger [et al.?], “Beggars Bush”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):


hum

en-verb

hum (third-person singular simple present hums, present participle humming, simple past and past participle hummed)

hums (present singular third-person)
humming (participle present)
hummed (participle past)
hummed (past)

onomatopoeic

imitative

(intransitive) To produce low sounds which blend continuously

мънкам

to produce low sounds which blend continuously


hum

From Hokkien 蚶 (ham) or Cantonese 蚶 (ham¹).

(informal, Malaysia, Singapore) Synonym of see hum (“blood cockles, ark clams”)


pretty Polly

Polly is a name traditionally given to a pet parrot.

Pretty Polly! Pretty Polly! Squawk! 'Allo! Who's a pretty boy! Squawk! 'Allo! 'Allo!

A phrase traditionally said to parrots, and a phrase that parrots are traditionally taught to speak.


warble

en-verb

warble (third-person singular simple present warbles, present participle warbling, simple past and past participle warbled)

warbles (present singular third-person)
warbling (participle present)
warbled (participle past)
warbled (past)

(transitive) To modulate a tone's frequency.


warble

en-noun

warble (countable and uncountable, plural warbles)

The blackbirds and robins and and^([sic]) tits and finches shout at each other, chups and warbles and chirrups that, loosely translated, mean “Fancy a shag?”, “Get OFF my land” or “I’ve got a great big tonker.”

2015 April 16, Richard P. Grant, “Sex and the successful fundraiser”, in The Guardian:

The sound of one who warbles; singing with trills or modulations.

(military) In naval mine warfare, the process of varying the frequency of sound produced by a narrowband noisemaker to ensure that the frequency to which the mine will respond is covered.


warble

From Middle English werble (at least for the noun), from Frankish *werbel (mole cricket), cognate to Walloon waerbea.

A lesion under the skin of cattle, caused by the larva of a bot fly of genus Hypoderma.

varron

lesion under the skin of cattle, caused by by the larva of a bot fly


whisper

en-verb

whisper (third-person singular simple present whispers, present participle whispering, simple past and past participle whispered)

whispers (present singular third-person)
whispering (participle present)
whispered (participle past)
whispered (past)

From Middle English whisperen, from Old English hwisprian (“to mutter, murmur, whisper”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwisprōn, from Proto-Germanic *hwisprōną (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweys-, *ḱwey- (“to hiss, whistle, whisper”).
Cognate with Dutch wisperen (“to whisper”), German wispern (“to mumble, whisper”). Related also to Danish hviske (“to whisper”), Icelandic hvískra (“to whisper”), Norwegian Bokmål hviske, kviskre (“to whisper”), Norwegian Nynorsk kviskre, kviskra (“to whisper”), Swedish viska (“to whisper”). More at English whistle.

inh

the hollow, whispering breeze

a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:

[…] hear thy laurel whisper sweet
About the ledges of the hill.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXXVII, page 57:

(intransitive) To make a low, sibilant sound.


strum

hear the strum of a guitar

The sound made by playing various strings of a stringed instrument simultaneously.


bleep

en-verb

bleep (third-person singular simple present bleeps, present participle bleeping, simple past and past participle bleeped)

bleeps (present singular third-person)
bleeping (participle present)
bleeped (participle past)
bleeped (past)

(transitive) To edit out inappropriate spoken language in a broadcast by replacing offending words with bleeps.

запикивать

to edit out inappropriate spoken language in a broadcast by replacing offending words with bleeps


groan

groans (plural)
groane (alternative)
grane (alternative)
grain (alternative)
graen (alternative)

From Middle English gronen, granen, from Old English grānian (“to groan; lament; murmur”), from Proto-West Germanic *grainōn, from Proto-Germanic *grainōną (“to howl; weep”), from Proto-Germanic *grīnaną (“to whine; howl; whimper”).
Cognate with Scots grain (“to cry, scream”), Dutch grijnen, grienen (“to cry; sob; blubber”), German Low German grienen (“to whimper; mewl”), German greinen (“to whine; whimper”), Swedish grina (“to howl; weep; laugh”).
The noun is from Middle English gron, grone, from the verb.

cog

A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief.

A low, guttural sound uttered in frustration, disapproval, or ecstasy.

стон

low guttural sound uttered in frustration or disapproval

(of an object) A low creaking sound from applied pressure or weight.


groan

en-verb

groan (third-person singular simple present groans, present participle groaning, simple past and past participle groaned)

groans (present singular third-person)
groaning (participle present)
groaned (participle past)
groaned (past)
groane (alternative)
grane (alternative)
grain (alternative)
graen (alternative)

That night the table in the outer dining room was just groaning with good things.

1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 14, column 1:

(figurative) To seemingly creak under the strain of being heavily laden.

Nothing but holy, pure, and clear, / Or that which groaneth to be so.

[1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC:

(obsolete) To strive after earnestly, as if with groans.


chuck

chuck (third-person singular simple present chucks, present participle chucking, simple past and past participle chucked)

chucks (present singular third-person)
chucking (participle present)
chucked (participle past)
chucked (past)

From Middle English chukken, from the noun (see above).

Who would not chuck to see such pleasing sport.
To see such troupes of gallants still resort
unto Cornutos shop.

1598, John Marston, “Satyre IV”, in The Metamorphosis of Pigmalions Image, and Certaine Satyres (poem):


scream

From Middle English scremen, scræmen, probably from a fusion of Middle Dutch scremen (“to yell; shout”) and Old Norse skræma (“to terrify; scare”); compare Dutch schremen (“to shout; yell; cry”), Swedish skrämma (“to spook; frighten”), Danish skræmme (“to scare”), West Frisian skrieme (“to weep”). Compare also Swedish skräna (“to yell; shout; howl”), Dutch schreien (“to cry; weep”), German schreien (“to scream”). Related to shriek, skrike.

A loud, emphatic, exclamation of extreme emotion, especially horror, fear, excitement, or anger; it may comprise a word or a sustained, high-pitched vowel sound.

I am tender-hearted by nature, and have found my eyes moist many a time over the scream of a wounded hare.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

A loud vocalisation of many animals, especially in response to pain or fear.

(music) A form of singing associated with the metal and screamo styles of music. It is a loud, rough, distorted version of the voice; rather than the normal voice of the singer.


scream

scream (third-person singular simple present screams, present participle screaming, simple past and past participle screamed or (nonstandard) screamt)

screams (present singular third-person)
screaming (participle present)
screamed (participle past)
screamed (past)
screamt (nonstandard participle past)
screamt (nonstandard past)
scream (infinitive)

I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

When we crossed the river, I heard a terrible cry, and I blessed the child again, the others said it was only the loon, which screamed for bad weather." "Yes, that would have been sufficient, if there was nothing else but the loon," said Gubjor; "when it screams at a new-born babe, that child is bewitched."

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 303:

Well, I waited and I waited / For some word from down below / And then ol' Harley started screaming / "Run, my God, now, Carter, go man go!"

2006, The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, “Harley Got Devoured by the Undead”, in An Even Scarier Solstice:

Meanwhile, the authoritarianism, which has turned left-liberalism into a movement for sneaks and prudes, was always going to play into the hands of the right. Free citizens have stopped listening to those who respond to the challenge of argument by screaming for the police to arrest the politically incorrect or for universities to ban speakers who depart from leftish orthodoxy.

2016 October 2, Nick Cohen, “Liberal Guilt Won't Fight Nationalism”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 195, numbers 17 (30 September – 6 October 2016), London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 21, column 3:

One hit high on Farenholt snipped off the radar antenna rather neatly and sent splinters down into the torpedo launcher below, one of which blew out the air flask of a torpedo, which immediately launched itself straight out of the tube, and, rather unhelpfully, since the torpedo launcher was currently positioned pointing forward, wedged itself, motor screaming, in the forefunnel. Luckily, unlike Buchanan's weapon, this one was faulty; the motor ran out, but the automatic destruct function failed to work.

2020 December 9, Drachinifel, 22:54 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Cape Esperance (IJN 1 : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-12-04:

(intransitive, also figuratively) To cry out with a shrill voice; to utter a sudden, shout outcry, or shrill, loud cry, as in fright or extreme pain; to screech, to shriek.

He almost hit a pole, the way he came screaming down the hill.

Things had improved a little bit compared to the Eastern Solomons, and three dozen F4F Wildcats on combat air patrol were vectored onto the oncoming hostiles, but once that initial task was accomplished, things began to collapse back into the cacophony and chaos that was all too familiar to those aboard the Enterprise, meaning that the end result was round about the same, the Japanese aircraft screaming into their attack runs on Hornet about the same time as most of the Wildcats managed to sort themselves out to begin their own attacks on the incoming.

2021 February 3, Drachinifel, 11:05 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Santa Cruz (IJN 2 : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-12-04:

(intransitive, figuratively)
To move quickly; to race.


tinkle

tinkle (third-person singular simple present tinkles, present participle tinkling, simple past and past participle tinkled)

tinkles (present singular third-person)
tinkling (participle present)
tinkled (participle past)
tinkled (past)

From Middle English tinclen, equivalent to tink + -le (frequentative suffix).

The glasses tinkled together as they were placed on the table.

The sprightly horse / Moves to the music of his tinkling bells.

With a sound like tinkling bells, far off in a land of shepherds hidden by some hill, the waters of many fountains turned again home.

1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 1:

(intransitive) To make light metallic sounds, rather like a very small bell.


siren

sirens (plural)
sirenes (plural)
sirene (alternative)

From Middle English siren, from Old French sereine and Latin Sīrēn, Sīrēna, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn). The mammalian sense was first attested in French in Dominique Bouhours, Les entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugène, in 1671. The aquatic salamander sense was originally introduced by Linnaeus in 1766, for a genus of his reptiles. Doublet of serin.

My attention was diverted from this sight by a furious yelling, like that of the thing called a siren in our manufacturing towns.

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 103:

1984, Steve Harris, "Aces High", Iron Maiden, Powerslave.
There goes the siren that warns of the air raid / Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak / Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne / Got to get up for the coming attack.

A device, either mechanical or electronic, that makes a piercingly loud sound as an alarm or signal, or the sound from such a device (first recorded 1879).


hiss

hiss (third-person singular simple present hisses, present participle hissing, simple past and past participle hissed)

hisses (present singular third-person)
hissing (participle present)
hissed (participle past)
hissed (past)

From Middle English hissen, probably of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle Dutch hissen, hisschen (“to chase away, shoo”), Middle Low German hissen (“to chase, hound, incite”).

cog

"Are you quite sure of it," she hissed into his ear, "Mr Fang, Junior?"

1881, Elim Henry D'Avigdor, Across Country, Bradbury, Agnew:

"Oh please," she said, "don't let him see us!" I wouldn't let her push me away. "Stop!" she hissed. "He'll see us!"

1968, James A. Emanuel, Theodore L. Gross, Dark symphony, →ISBN:

(transitive) To whisper, especially angrily or urgently.


snicker

en-verb

snicker (third-person singular simple present snickers, present participle snickering, simple past and past participle snickered)

snickers (present singular third-person)
snickering (participle present)
snickered (participle past)
snickered (past)
snigger (alternative)

US variant of the British snigger, possibly of onomatopoeic origin, similar to Dutch snikken (“to gasp; sob”). The noun is first recorded 1836, from the verb. Compare also Scottish smicker (“to smile or laugh in a sniggering or leery way, smirk”). More at smicker.


woof

woof (third-person singular simple present woofs, present participle woofing, simple past and past participle woofed)

woofs (present singular third-person)
woofing (participle present)
woofed (participle past)
woofed (past)

The interjection and noun are onomatopoeic. Interjection sense 2 (“used to express strong physical attraction for someone”) probably alludes to the eager barking of a dog.
The verb is probably derived from the interjection and the noun. Verb sense 1.2 (“to eat (food) voraciously”) may be influenced by or, alternatively, derived from wolf (“to eat (food) voraciously, devour, gobble”).

[N]othing makes me feel better than to see my dog's woofing down their food.

2007 June 5, Patricia O’Grady, “Feeding a Homemade Diet”, in Woofing It Down: The Quick & Easy Guide to Making Healthy Dog Food at Home, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 23:

The dog doesn't bark, it just stares at Tom. Tom pulls out the steaks. […] Tom throws them over and the dog woofs them down.

2020, Ian Horan, “The Return of Tom Fuller”, in Psychotic Episodes: Another Collection of Crazy Stories, [Morrisville, N.C.: Lulu.com], →ISBN, page 64:

(originally British, Royal Air Force slang, informal) To eat (food) voraciously; to devour, to gobble, to wolf.


croon

croon (third-person singular simple present croons, present participle crooning, simple past and past participle crooned)

croons (present singular third-person)
crooning (participle present)
crooned (participle past)
crooned (past)
croon (infinitive)

The verb is borrowed from Scots croon (“to utter a deep, long-drawn-out sound; to utter a lament, mourn; to sing in a wailing voice, whimper, whine; to mutter or sing in an undertone, hum”) [and other forms], from Middle English cronen (“to sing or speak softly, hum, croon”) (croyn (Scotland)) [and other forms], probably from Middle Dutch crônen, krônen (“to groan, moan; to lament”) (modern Dutch kreunen (“to moan”)), or Old High German chrônan, krônen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), probably from Proto-Germanic *kraunijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”).
The noun is partly:
* borrowed from Scots croon (“a lament, wail; mournful song; low murmuring tune; (obsolete) long-drawn-out sound”), from croon (verb): see above; and
* derived from the verb.
Cognates
* Middle Dutch krônen (modern Dutch kreunen (“to groan, moan; to lament”))
* Middle Low German kroenen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), kronen (“to growl; to grumble; to scold”)
* Old High German chrônan, chrônnan (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”)
* Saterland Frisian krȫnen (“to cause to weep”)

listen/core

A person crooning (sense 􂀽2.1).

nb...

creen, crone, cruin, crun, crune, krin, krun, krune, kryn

напявам

(transitive, intransitive) to hum or sing (a song or tune) softly in a low pitch or in a sentimental manner; to sing (a popular song) in a low, mellow voice

broukat

(transitive, intransitive) to speak (words) softly in a low pitch or in a sentimental manner — see also coo

(Northern England, Scotland) To lament, to moan.

Coordinate term: bawl

Novv Clinkumbell, vvi' rattlin tovv, / Begins to jovv an' croon; […]

1786, Robert Burns, “The Holy Fair”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, stanza XXVI, page 51:

Even the dull cattle crooned and gazed, / And murmured and looked with anxious pain / For something the mystery to explain.

1813 January 30, James Hogg, “Night the Second. Kilmeny. The Thirteenth Bard’s Song.”, in The Queen’s Wake: A Legendary Poem, Edinburgh: George Goldie, […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 192:

'Thou hear'st that lordly Bull of mine, / Neighbour,' quoth Brunskill then; / 'How loudly to the hills he crunes, / That crune to him again.[']

1838, Robert Southey, “Brough Bells”, in The Poetical Works of Robert Southey. […], volume VI, London: […] [Andrew Spottiswoode] for Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, […], published 1838, →OCLC, page 227:

Above the marge of night a star still shines, / And on the frosty hills the sombre pines / Harbor an eerie wind that crooneth low / Over the glimmering wastes of virgin snow.

1916, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “[Songs of the Hills and Woods.] A Winter Dawn.”, in The Watchman and Other Poems, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 85:

(Northern England, Scotland) To make a continuous hollow low-pitched moan, as of cattle; to bellow, to low.

ynistä

to make a continuous hollow low-pitched moan, as of cattle — see also bellow, low


croon

listen/core

A person crooning (sense 􂀽2.1).

O, a’ ye Bards on bonie Doon! / An’ vvha on Ayr your chanters tune! / Come, join the melancholious croon / O’ Robin’s reed! / His heart vvill never get aboon! / His Mailie’s dead!

1793, Robert Burns, “Poor Mailie’s Elegy”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, page 115:

Bitterly she cried as she thought over the old hag's croon:— / "Quick joy, long pain, / You will take your gift again."

1866, C[harles] Kingsley, “How Hereward Turned Berserk”, in Hereward the Wake, “Last of the English.” […], volume I, London, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 249:

From away out in the darkness came a haunting croon from the lubras and children.

1931, Ion L. Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 72:

And really, Michael Jackson is a more fitting aspiration for the similarly sexless would-be-former teen heartthrob, who’s compared himself to the late King Of Pop (perhaps a bit prematurely) on several occasions and sings in a Jackson-like croon over a sample of “We’ve Got A Good Thing Going” on Believe’s “Die In Your Arms.”

2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2020-08-06:

A soft, low-pitched sound; specifically, a soft or sentimental hum, song, or tune.

broukání

soft, low-pitched sound; soft or sentimental hum, song, or tune

Amang the brachens, on the brae, / Betvveen her an' the moon, / The Deil, or elſe an outler Quey, / Gat up an' gae a croon: […]

1785 (date written), Robert Burns, “Halloween”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, stanza XXVI, page 191:

The bittern mounts the morning air; / And rings the sky with quavering croon; […]

1813 January 30, James Hogg, “Night the Third. Mary Scott. The Fourteenth Bard’s Song.”, in The Queen’s Wake: A Legendary Poem, Edinburgh: George Goldie, […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 216:

(Northern England, Scotland) A continuous hollow low-pitched moan, as of cattle; a bellow.


slurp

en-verb

slurp (third-person singular simple present slurps, present participle slurping, simple past and past participle slurped)

slurps (present singular third-person)
slurping (participle present)
slurped (participle past)
slurped (past)
slorp (alternative)

From Middle Dutch slurpen, slorpen (“to sip, slurp”), from Old Dutch *slurpan, from Proto-West Germanic *slurp- (“to sip, slurp”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *srebʰ-, *srobʰ- (“to sip, slurp, gulp”). Cognate with West Frisian sloarpe, sloarpje, slurvje (“to slurp”), German schlürfen (“to sip, slurp”), Swedish slurpa (“to slurp”), Norwegian slurpe (“to slurp”). Compare also Saterland Frisian slubberje (“to slurp”), German Low German slubbern (“to slurp”), Middle High German sluppern (“to slurp”), Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic slupra (“to slurp”), Middle High German sürfeln, sürpfeln (“to sip, slurp”), Latin sorbeō (“to suck up, imbibe, absorb”). Often treated as onomatopoeic in modern writing.

ncog

The mud slurped under our shoes.

(intransitive) To make a loud sucking noise.


slurp

A loud sucking noise, especially one made in eating or drinking.

I took another slurp of my soup.


squeal

Inherited from Middle English squelen, probably from Old Norse skvala (“to squeal, bawl”), from Proto-Germanic *skwel- (“to chatter, babble, scream”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *skel-, from *kelh₁- (“to ring, resound, cry”). Compare Old Norse skval (“a squeal”, noun), Swedish skvallra (“to babble, chatter, tell on”).

cog

A high-pitched sound, such as the scream of a child or a female person, or noisy worn-down brake pads.


squeal

en-verb

squeal (third-person singular simple present squeals, present participle squealing, simple past and past participle squealed)

squeals (present singular third-person)
squealing (participle present)
squealed (participle past)
squealed (past)

The children squealed with delight while opening their Christmas presents.

(ambitransitive) To scream with a shrill, prolonged sound.


whoop

whoops (plural)
hoop (alternative)
howp (alternative)

From Middle English whopen, whowpen, howpen, houpen (“to whoop, cry out”), partially from Old French houper, hopper, houpper (“to shout”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwōpan, from Proto-Germanic *hwōpaną (“to boast, threaten”) (compare Gothic 𐍈𐍉𐍀𐌰𐌽 (ƕōpan, “to boast”), Old English hwōpan (“to threaten”)); and partially from Middle English wop (“weeping, lamentation”), from Old English wōp (“cry, outcry, shrieking, weeping, lamentation”), from Proto-West Germanic *wōp, from Proto-Germanic *wōpaz (“shout, cry, wail”) (compare Old Norse ópa (“to cry, scream, shout”), Gothic 𐍅𐍉𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wōpjan, “to cry out”)).

inh

Mixed with the whoop of the crane and the roar of the grim alligator.

1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, (please specify either |part=I or II):

[A] great whoop of victory sounded as finally they carried the fish up the beach.

1983, The Fisherman Who Laughed, page 30:

A gasp, characteristic of whooping cough.

магарешка кашлица

The key to jamming through the whoops is to keep your weight to the back of the quad […] and keep the front wheels high […]

2006, Steve Casper, ATVs: Everything You Need to Know, page 104:

The “98 MPH” sign used to be on a set of particularly vicious whoops at one of John's favorite racetracks.

2009, Lee Klancher, Kevin Cameron, Motorcycle Dream Garages, page 184:


whoop

en-verb

whoop (third-person singular simple present whoops, present participle whooping, simple past and past participle whooped)

whoops (present singular third-person)
whooping (participle present)
whooped (participle past)
whooped (past)
hoop (alternative)
howp (alternative)

I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

To cough or breathe with a sonorous inspiration, as in whooping cough.


crackle

From Middle English crakelen, equivalent to crack + -le (frequentative suffix). The physics sense is part of a facetious sequence "snap, crackle, pop", after the mascots of Rice Krispies cereal.

I heard a crackle from the frying pan as I was frying bacon.

There was an annoying crackle during the phone call, due to poor connection.

A prolonged, frequent cracking sound; a fizzing, popping sound.


crackle

crackle (third-person singular simple present crackles, present participle crackling, simple past and past participle crackled)

crackles (present singular third-person)
crackling (participle present)
crackled (participle past)
crackled (past)

a crackling fire

the unknown ice that crackles underneath them

1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

He felt the stress and strain of life, its fevers and sweats and wild insurgences—surely this was the stuff to write about! He wanted to glorify the leaders of forlorn hopes, the mad lovers, the giants that fought under stress and strain, amid terror and tragedy, making life crackle with the strength of their endeavor.

1908 September – 1909 September, Jack London, chapter XIV, in Martin Eden, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published September 1909, →OCLC, page 117:

(intransitive) To make a prolonged, frequent cracking sound which sounds like fizzing or popping.


gobble

From Middle English gobben (“to drink or swallow greedily”), of uncertain origin + -le (frequentative suffix). Middle English gobben is perhaps an alteration of Middle English globben (“to gulp down”), related to English gulpen (“to gulp”). However, compare also French gober.

der

Nowadays, he was lucky if his mam's auld drinking cronies gave him a gobble.

(Scotland, slang, vulgar) Fellatio; a blowjob.


meu

From Latin mēum (“umbelliferous plant, Meum athamanticum”), from Ancient Greek μῆον (mêon), probably from μεῖον (meîon, “lesser”) for its small size. The English form came perhaps via Middle French meu, a word with a single isolated attestation from the 14th century which only began to appear consistently from 1568, by which time the word was established in English.

uder

Meum athamanticum
Meum athamanticum#Translingual


meu

meus (plural)
Meu (alternative)
mehu (alternative)
Mehu (alternative)

(historical) The second minister of the Kingdom of Dahomey.


yelp

From Middle English ȝelp, yelp, from Old English ġielp (“boasting, arrogance, pride”), from Proto-West Germanic *gelp, from Proto-Germanic *gelpą (“boasting”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰel- (“to shout”).

inh

A type of emergency vehicle siren sounding quicker and more intense than the wail.


snort

From Middle English snorten, from earlier fnorten, from Old English *fnorettan, related to Middle English snoren, fnoren, from Old English fnora. See snore and sneeze for more on the change from fn- to sn-.

"I absolutely refuse to leave, however, until we have made at least a superficial examination of this country, and are able to take back with us something in the nature of a chart." Professor Summerlee gave a snort of impatience.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

The sound made by exhaling or inhaling roughly through the nose.

сумтене

sound made by exhaling roughly through the nose


yiff

en-noun

yiff (usually uncountable, plural yiffs)

Yiff was part of a range of onomatopoeic words from a pseudolanguage called Foxish used by the furry role-playing community, ostensibly created by a user named LittleFox or Foxen around 1990. Other terms used by this community included yip, yerf, yaff, yarf, growf, and growlf. Yiff originally meant yes or an exuberant hello. According to LittleFox, the sexual connotations of yiff were influenced by yipp (derived from yip), which originally held these sexual connotations. By 1992, yiff had been assigned a meaning of a sexual proposition, and in modern use within the furry subculture, yiff exclusively refers either to sex between anthropomorphic animals, or pornographic depictions thereof.

FurryMuck yiffs are like real-life yiffs - there is a time and place for everything.

1996 July 14, j.serdy, “RFC: A Beginner's Guide to TinySex on the FurryMuck”, in alt.fan.furry (Usenet):

Sexual intercourse
sexual intercourse#English

(slang, informal) Sexual intercourse, especially between furries (fictional anthropomorphic animal characters or members of the community surrounding their celebration).

Do you draw yiff?

(slang, informal) Pornography of or involving furries.


yiff

en-verb

yiff (third-person singular simple present yiffs, present participle yiffing, simple past and past participle yiffed)

yiffs (present singular third-person)
yiffing (participle present)
yiffed (participle past)
yiffed (past)

Monsters snicker at me, succubi refuse to be seen with me, my dog tries to yiff my leg, shopkeepers say ‘No shirt, no shoes, no service’.

1997 October 17, StarChaser, “What to genocide”, in rec.games.roguelike.nethack (Usenet), message-ID <3448af39.75668367@169.132.11.13>:

And even if foxes are allowed to yiff more than once, I’d still have to wait for the vixen to come into heat.

1997 September 22, Locandez, “Hypothetical Question #3: acting natural”, in alt.lifestyle.furry (Usenet), message-ID <na.dab87347cd.a40040lyndale@argonet.co.uk>:

Well, i’ve witnessed male foxes queueing up to yiff one of my local vixens… repeatedly!

1997 September 23, MegaDog the Nettweiler, “Hypothetical Question #3: acting natural”, in alt.lifestyle.furry (Usenet), message-ID <1d3DsMAQZ$J0Ew2R@canismajor.demon.co.uk>:

I mean, the urge to yiff is a pretty weird thing to admit to. Not something you can just drop into conversation. But look at them, hundreds of them, all gathered together in a Vegas hotel, exchanging information and experiences, the knowledge of their rare urges ever growing.

We can tell them how we never stop yiffing and we met at a Starbucks while wearing our suits.

2017, Joe Strike, Furry Nation: The True Story of America's Most Misunderstood Subculture, →ISBN:

(ambitransitive, slang, informal) Of animals, especially foxes, or furries, To have sexual intercourse; to mate.

(intransitive, transitive, slang, informal) To propose cybersex to someone.


gasp

From Middle English gaspen, gayspen (“to gape, outbreathe”), related to and likely derived from Old Norse geispa (“to yawn”) or its descendant Danish gispe, which may be related to gapa (“to gape”).

Gasp! What will happen next?


grr

grrr (alternative)
grrrr (alternative)
grrrh (alternative)


susurrus

Borrowed from Latin susurrus (“a humming, whispering”); reduplication of imitative Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”).

der

[Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was] pelted with buckets of water by firemen, and, finally, currycombed and rubbed down by two grooms, keeping a sharp susurrus between them, so as to soothe his wounded feelings; […]

1847 February, Thomas De Quincey, “Notes on Walter Savage Landor”, in Leaders in Literature with a Notice of Traditional Errors Affecting Them (De Quincey’s Works; IX), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, pages 312–313:

The soft susurrus and sighs of the branches.

They heard the Green Fork before they saw it, an endless susurrus, like the growl of some great beast.

2000, George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords, →ISBN, page 555:

I sipped at a drink and smoked cigarettes in a silence so profound that I could hear the susurrus of the blindfold's soft fabric rustle and slip between my fingers.

2004, Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram: A Novel, →ISBN, page 613:

I walked steadily toward the pennant pole amid a sea of susurrus murmurings.

2007, Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind, →ISBN, page 301:

Bod could feel the Sleer listening to Jack's words, could feel a low susurrus of excitement building in the chamber.

2008, Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book, →ISBN, page 262:

(literary) A whispering or rustling sound; a murmur.


rattle

en-verb

rattle (third-person singular simple present rattles, present participle rattling, simple past and past participle rattled)

rattles (present singular third-person)
rattling (participle present)
rattled (participle past)
rattled (past)

From Middle English ratelen, of uncertain origin; perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch ratelen or of native origin related to Old English hratele, hrætele (“a plant known for its rustling or rattling sound”), ultimately imitative. The noun (c. 1500) is from the verb.

unc

uncertain

This came to the Bishop's Ear, who presently sent for the Curate, Rattled him to some Tune, with Menaces to the Highest Degree

1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:

(transitive, obsolete) To scold; to rail at.


rattle

en-noun

rattle (countable and uncountable, plural rattles)

unc

uncertain

ratel

zoology: organ that produces a rattling sound

I wish they would fix the rattle under my dashboard.

The rattle of a drum.

1902, Arthur M. Winfield, The Rover Boys in the Mountains, Chapter 4:

(onomatopoeia) A rapid succession of percussive sounds, as made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another.

All this adoe about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceipt.

1627, G[eorge] H[akewill], An Apologie of the Power and Prouidence of God in the Gouernment of the World. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Iohn Lichfield and William Turner, […], →OCLC:

Rattling sound.
(now rare) Noisy, rapid talk; babble.

Rattling sound.
Noisy, rapid talk; babble.


whimper

From dialectal whimp (“to whine”) + -er (frequentative suffix). Compare German wimmern (“to whimper, whine”).


whimper

en-verb

whimper (third-person singular simple present whimpers, present participle whimpering, simple past and past participle whimpered)

whimpers (present singular third-person)
whimpering (participle present)
whimpered (participle past)
whimpered (past)

The lonely puppy began to whimper as soon as we left the room.

At the sight of Mr. Utterson, the housemaid broke into hysterical whimpering; and the cook, crying out "Bless God! it's Mr. Utterson," ran forward as if to take him in her arms.

1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:

To cry or sob softly and intermittently.

Was ther euer yet prechers, but ther wer gainſayers? that ſpurned? that winſt? that whimpered againſt him?

1549 April 1 (Gregorian calendar), Hughe Latymer [i.e., Hugh Latimer], Augustine Bernher, compiler, “[27 Sermons Preached by the Ryght Reuerende Father in God and Constant Matir of Iesus Christe, Maister Hugh Latimer, […].] The Thyrde Sermon of Maister Hughe Latymer whyche He Preached before the Kynge [Edward VI], wythin Hys Graces Palayce at Westminster, the XXII. Daye of Marche.”, in Certayn Godly Sermons, Made uppon the Lords Prayer, […], London: […] John Day, […], published 1562, →OCLC, folio 39, verso:

To cry with a low, whining, broken voice; to whine; to complain.


whinny

From Middle English whynyen, whinien, akin to Middle English whinen (“to whine”).

Coordinate term: (sometimes synonymous) nicker

And moving out they found the stately horse, / Who now no more a vassal to the thief, / But free to stretch his limbs in lawful fight, / Neigh'd with all gladness as they came, and stoop'd / With a low whinny toward the pair: […]

1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 85–86:


whinny

whinny (third-person singular simple present whinnies, present participle whinnying, simple past and past participle whinnied)

whinnies (present singular third-person)
whinnying (participle present)
whinnied (participle past)
whinnied (past)
whinney (alternative)

Cattle lowed here and there, and horses whinnied to be fed.

1904 May, Winston Churchill, The Crossing, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, book I (The Borderland), page 240:

A pony whinnied a short distance from the hut.

1914 October – 1916 July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter XIII, in The Mucker, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., published 31 October 1921, →OCLC:

[John Gray] whinnies like a donnish Houyhnhnm[.]

2014 January 28, Will Self, “John Gray: Forget everything you know”, in Independent, retrieved 2021-03-03:

(transitive, intransitive, of a horse) To make a gentle neigh.


whirr

whirr (third-person singular simple present whirrs, present participle whirring, simple past and past participle whirred)

whirrs (present singular third-person)
whirring (participle present)
whirred (participle past)
whirred (past)
whir (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-whirr.wav

ware (fair–fur merger, wine–whine merger)

From Middle English whirren, probably from Old Norse: compare Danish hvirre, virre, Norwegian kvirre, Old Norse hvirfla (“to whirl, spread”).

To move or vibrate (something) with a buzzing sound.

бръмча

In a city where media companies and hospitals have armed guards, this accessibility is unusual. Inside, drivers sit and chat in between shifts, the overhead fan whirring and causing the dim electric light to flicker over their faces.

2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in the Guardian:

(intransitive) To make a sibilant buzzing or droning sound.

buzz

(transitive) To cause (something) to make such a sound.

(intransitive) (of a panther) To make a vibrating sound in its throat when contented, much like the domestic cat’s purr.


whirr

At that moment a flight of birds passed close overhead, and at the whirr of their wings a panic fear seized her.

1978, Lawrence Durrell, “Lord Galen’s Farewell”, in Livia: Or Buried Alive […] (The Avignon Quintet; 2), London, Boston, Mass.: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 239:

Then the exploding whirr of wings in the wind — a mixed covey of bobwhites and scalies.

2007, Jeffrey Engel, Sherol Engel, & James A. Swan, Chasing The Hunter's Dream: 1,001 of the World's Best Duck Marshes, Deer Runs, Elk Meadows, Pheasant Fields, Bear Woods, Safaris, and Extraordinary Hunts, HarperCollins, published 2007, →ISBN, page 212:

A sibilant buzz or vibration; the sound of something in rapid motion.

The vibrating sound made by a panther in its throat when contented.


whiz

whiz (third-person singular simple present whizzes, present participle whizzing, simple past and past participle whizzed)

whizzes (present singular third-person)
whizzing (participle present)
whizzed (participle past)
whizzed (past)
whizz (alternative)
wiz (alternative)
wizz (alternative)

Onomatopoeic. Compare huzz, hizz, hiss. In some noun senses perhaps derived from wizard.

To make a whirring or hissing sound, similar to that of an object speeding through the air.

To rush or move swiftly with such a sound.


whiz

en-noun

whiz (countable and uncountable, plural whizzes)

whizzes (plural)
whizz (alternative)
wiz (alternative)
wizz (alternative)


twitter

en-verb

twitter (third-person singular simple present twitters, present participle twittering, simple past and past participle twittered)

twitters (present singular third-person)
twittering (participle present)
twittered (participle past)
twittered (past)

From Middle English twitren, twiteren, from Old English *twiterian, from Proto-West Germanic *twitwiʀōn, from Proto-Germanic *twitwizōną (“to chirp; twitter”). Cognate with Low German twitteren (“to twitter”), German zwitzern, zwitschern (“to twitter”). Compare also Dutch kwetteren (“to twitter”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter”), Swedish kvittra (“to twitter”), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to twitter”).

inh

In addition to listing specific earmarks he finds the most reprehensible, McCain said he has been twittering the “top ten” most egregious

2009 March 2, Michelle Levi, “McCain Criticizes Obama On The Senate Floor”, in CBS News, retrieved 2009-03-02:


burr

Onomatopoeic, influenced by bur. Compare to French bruire.


rasp

From Middle English raspen, from Old French rasper, from Frankish *hraspōn, from Proto-Germanic *hraspōną, related to Proto-Germanic *hrespaną (“to tear”). Compare Old High German raspōn (“to gather, rake”), Old English ġehrespan (“to tear”).
The noun is from Middle French raspe.

cog

the rasp of her perpetual cough

The sound made by this tool when used, or any similar sound.


racket

Attested since the 1500s, of unclear origin; possibly a metathesis of the dialectal term rattick (“to shake, rattle”).

Power tools work quickly, but they sure make a racket.

With all the racket they're making, I can't hear myself think!

What's all this racket?

Vast flights of starlings, fleeing the racket, beat across the sky at high speed, like Squall-clouds,— Evening at Noon-tide.

1997, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 52, in Mason & Dixon, 1st US edition, New York: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, part Two: America, page 501:

(dated, slang) Something taking place considered as exciting, trying, unusual, etc. or as an ordeal.


racket

en-verb

racket (third-person singular simple present rackets, present participle racketing, simple past and past participle racketed)

rackets (present singular third-person)
racketing (participle present)
racketed (participle past)
racketed (past)

(intransitive) To make a clattering noise.


wham

Onomatopoeic, representing the sound of an object being slammed against something.

We heard a wham as the hammer struck the wall.


ululation

]
Borrowed from Latin ululātiō, from ululō (“to howl, shriek, yell”) (from a reduplicated Proto-Indo-European imitative root) + -ātiō (suffix forming nouns relating to some action or the result of an action) (from Proto-Indo-European *-tis (suffix forming abstract or action nouns from verb roots)).

der

The overthrown Martian set up a prolonged ululation, and immediately a second glittering giant, answering him, appeared over the trees[.]

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 137:

As we started there broke from the thick silent woods behind us a sudden great ululation of the ape-men, which may have been a cheer of triumph at our departure or a jeer of contempt at our flight.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

Because it is not as reliable as the simple ululation or the louder cross-register ululation, it should be allowed a certain amount of preparation time.

1980, Deborah [Helene] Kavasch, An Introduction to Extended Vocal Techniques: Some Compositional Aspects and Performance Problems (Reports from the Center (University of California, San Diego, Center for Music Experiment); vol. 1, no. 2), La Jolla, Calif.: Center for Music Experiment, →OCLC, page 6:

Maryam, my research assistant, and I were going through some interviews we had conducted the previous day, when cheerful ululation disrupted our discussion. Coming from the culture of north Sudan, where such ululation may announce the happy news of a wedding or a circumcision, I assumed a similar situation was taking place […]

2007, Amal Hassan Fadlalla, “Gendered Placenta: The Paths to Proper Fertility and Responsible Motherhood”, in Embodying Honor: Fertility, Foreignness, and Regeneration in Eastern Sudan, Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, →ISBN, page 109:

[T]he sound of the ululation brought my own past and future, my entire life, in front of my eyes like a very long road, and it was as if this ululation was reaching the ear from its most distant and shadowy edges. This is how my day began.

2014, Rabindranath Tagore, translated by Rosinka Chaudhuri, Letters from a Young Poet: 1887–1895 (Penguin Modern Classics), New Delhi: Penguin Books, →ISBN:

The Queen had heard ululation many times in the past as she travelled the world, particularly in Africa, but this time, the sound made her shiver. Ululation is found in some singing techniques and ritual situations.

2014 August 20, Peter Ship, “April–May”, in McNiven: The Kingdom Guardian, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 198:

The act of ululating; a long, loud, wavering cry or howl.


tweet

Onomatopoeic of the sound made by a bird. Compare twitter. The social media senses evolved from earlier Twitter update, twit (noun), twitter (verb).

Alternative form: Tweet

Every few seconds, a tweet appears and vanishes somewhere on the globe.

2007 April 22, Jason Pontin, “Twitter takes instant messaging to an extreme”, in International Herald-Tribune:

For example, as you edit a tweet in Twitter, the number of characters left is updated as you type.

2008, Wendy Chisholm, Matthew May, Universal Design for Web Applications:

A tweet can be received via SMS to your cell phone […]

2008, Chris Seibold, Big Book of Apple Hacks:

(social media) An entry posted on the microblogging service Twitter.


tweet

en-verb

tweet (third-person singular simple present tweets, present participle tweeting, simple past tweeted or (Internet, nonstandard) twote, past participle tweeted or (Internet, nonstandard) twoten)

tweets (present singular third-person)
tweeting (participle present)
tweeted (past)
twote (Internet nonstandard past)
tweeted (participle past)
twoten (Internet nonstandard participle past)

In Saudi Arabia, one of the most conservative societies, one online rebel has rocked the Islamic establishment with tweeted allegations of corruption within the ruling royal family.

2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian:

=Mr Trump tweeted: "Big day planned on national security tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

2017 January 25, “Donald Trump: 'We will build Mexico border wall'”, in BBC World Service, retrieved 2017-01-25:

First, an apology. Tweet in haste and repent at leisure. When I first heard about the idea, before I had properly examined it, I actually tweeted that this was [a] welcome 'innovation' from a state-controlled train operator.

2024 February 7, Christian Wolmar, “LNER's crazy idea will price more people off the railway”, in RAIL, number 1002, page 44:

(ambitransitive, social media) To post an update to Twitter.

غَرَّدَ

social media: to post an update to Twitter


cluck

clucks (plural)
clutch (alternative)
clock (alternative)

From Middle English clokken, clocken, from Old English cloccian (“to cluck, make a noise”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkwōn, from Proto-Germanic *klukkwōną (“to make a sound, cluck”), of imitative origin.
Cognate with Scots clok, clock (“to cluck”), Dutch klokken (“to cluck”), Low German klucken (“to cluck”), German glucken (“to cluck”), Danish klukke (“to cluck”), Swedish klucka (“to cluck”), Icelandic klökkva (“to sob, whine, cluck”).

cog

The sound made by a hen, especially when brooding, or calling her chicks.

A kind of tongue click used to urge on a horse.


cluck

en-verb

cluck (third-person singular simple present clucks, present participle clucking, simple past and past participle clucked)

clucks (present singular third-person)
clucking (participle present)
clucked (participle past)
clucked (past)
clutch (alternative)
clock (alternative)

"I came across him once," he continued, "when he was playing down on the main road to Skaug; there he sat in the middle of the road with a lot of hens around him, I counted seven, and there were more round about in the wood, for I heard them clucking and calling behind every bush."

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 72:

(intransitive) To make low clicking sounds (refers to hens).

My mother clucked her tongue in disapproval.

(transitive) To cause (the tongue) to make a clicking sound.

When she, poor hen, fond of no second brood,
Has clucked thee to the wars and safely home.

c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:

To call together, or call to follow, as a hen does her chickens.


coo

The male [ring dove] will continue nest-coos for 3–4 days until his female partner begins to nest-coo. At that point the male's nest-coo begins to become less frequent[…].

1979, Mei-Fang Cheng, “Progress and Prospects in Ring Dove Research: A Personal View”, in Jay S[eth] Rosenblatt, Robert A[ubrey] Hinde, Colin Beer, Marie-Claire Busnel, editors, Advances in the Study of Behavior, volume 9, New York, N.Y., London: Academic Press, →ISBN, section III (Hormones and Behavior: Lehrman’s Hypotheses), page 99:

The murmuring sound made by a dove or pigeon.

قَرْقَرَة

An infant has only cries and coos with which to communicate distress and well-being. Adults have many more ways of expressing themselves. However, their expressions of disease and ease can be boiled down to sophisticated cries and coos. A call for help in whatever form is a cry. A sense of well-being however expressed is a coo. Healing in the context of cries and coos can be viewed as the process of resolving the cries and fostering the coos.

2001, Denton L. Roberts, Caddy Roberts-Williams, “What You Need to Know to Be Useful”, in Living as Healer: (Everyone Does Therapy and Should … Know How), Pasadena, Calif.: Hope Publishing House, →ISBN, page 23:

(by extension) An expression of pleasure made by a person.


coo

coo (third-person singular simple present coos, present participle cooing, simple past and past participle cooed)

coos (present singular third-person)
cooing (participle present)
cooed (participle past)
cooed (past)

No birds, except as birds of paſſage, flew, / No bee was known to hum, no dove to coo.

1763, C[harles] Churchill, The Prophecy of Famine. A Scots Pastoral, 2nd edition, London: Printed for the author, and sold by G. Kearsly, in Ludgate-street, →OCLC, page 15:

DUET—MAYOR and MAUD. […] Like a Dove I'll coo and bill, pretty Maud, / I will not coo and bill, Mr. Mayor.

[1784?], [John] O'Keeffe, Songs, Duets, and Chorusses, in the New Musical Farce of Peeping Tom of Coventry. As Performed at the Theatre Royal, [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 4:

But oh! ſhall I, Misfortune's bondman, ſpeak / Of pleaſures and delights, where ſorrows ſhriek! / Can plaintive nightingale, or turte-dove, / When vultures tear them, ſing or coo of love?

1784, Voltaire, “Memoirs of Voltaire. Written by Himself. Part the Third”, in Memoirs of the Life of Voltaire. Written by Himself. Translated from the French, Dublin: Printed for Messrs. Moncrieffe, Walker, Exshaw, Wilson, Jenkin, Burton, White, Byrne, Marchbank, Cash, and Heery, →OCLC, page 176:

The black-bird and the speckled thrush / Good-morrow gave from brake and brush; / In answer cooed the cushat dove, / Her notes of peace, and rest, and love.

1810, Walter Scott, “Canto III. The Gathering.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza II, page 99:

Then did her soft breath stop and she lay still, her eyes yet open and smiling at the blossoms and the doves who sat upon the window-ledge and lowly cooed and cooed.

1896, Frances Hodgson Burnett, “The Doves Sat upon the Window-ledge and Lowly Cooed and Cooed”, in A Lady of Quality: Being a Most Curious, hitherto Unknown History, as Related by Mr. Isaac Bickerstaff but Not Presented to the World of Fashion through the Pages of The Tatler, and Now for the First Time Written Down, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, →OCLC, page 360:

As Norah Jones coos sweet nothings on the soundtrack, the happy couple—played by Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler—canoodle through a Manhattan montage, making pasta for two, swimming through a pile of autumn leaves, and horsing around at a fruit stand.

2014 June 26, A. A Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler spoof rom-com clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2017-11-27:

(ambitransitive) To make a soft murmuring sound, as a pigeon.


coo

onomatopoeic

Imitative

I stood outside the door for a space, letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would", as Jeeves tells me cats do in adages, then turned the handle softly, pushed – also softly – and, carrying on into the interior, found myself confronted by a girl in housemaid's costume who put a hand to her throat like somebody in a play and leaped several inches in the direction of the ceiling. "Coo!" she said, having returned to terra firma and taken aboard a spot of breath. "You gave me a start, sir!" […] "If you cast an eye on him, you will see that he's asleep now." "Coo! So he is."

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

The last track on each of the three sections is a professional course, where you can customise your bike by changing the tyres and the size of chainwheel. Coo!

1988 November, Sean Kelly, “Professional BMX Simulator [video game review]”, in Teresa Maughan, editor, Your Sinclair, number 35, London: Sportscene Specialist Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-05-14:

We want you to come up with a side splitting caption for a picture drawn by the fair hand of those at System 3. If you turn out to be the Funniest "Person", we'll give you a big wopping model of a dinosaur. Coo.

1989 November, “Competitions”, in Jim Douglas, editor, Sinclair User: The Independent Magazine for the Independent User, number 92, London: ECC Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-10-21:

Coo, I've only had four gallons of extra caffeine coffee today so I'm not my usual talking-to-PR-girlies-for-hours-on-end self. But bear with me a mo while I get myself together (audience waits for an age while he searches through his coat for the golden envelope). Here it is! Coo, and the winner is The NewZealand Story.

1990 April, “Crash Readers’ Awards Ceremony”, in Oliver Frey, editor, Crash: ZX Spectrum, number 75, [Ludlow, Shropshire]: Newsfield, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-06-25:

An expression of approval, fright, surprise, etc.


chuckle

en-verb

chuckle (third-person singular simple present chuckles, present participle chuckling, simple past and past participle chuckled)

chuckles (present singular third-person)
chuckling (participle present)
chuckled (participle past)
chuckled (past)

(intransitive, archaic) To make the sound of a chicken; to cluck.

if these Birds are within distance, here's that will chuckle 'em together

1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

(transitive, archaic) To call together, or call to follow, as a hen calls her chickens; to cluck.


chatter

en-noun

chatter (usually uncountable, plural chatters)

From Middle English chateren, from earlier cheteren, chiteren (“to twitter, chatter, jabber”), of imitative origin. Compare Saterland Frisian tjoaterje (“to chatter”), West Frisian tsjotterje (“to chatter”), Dutch schateren, schetteren (“chatter”), Dutch koeteren (“jabber”), Middle Low German kidderen (“to chatter”), German Low German queteln (“to chatter”), dialectal German kaudern (“to gobble (like a turkey)”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter, chirp”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

The NSA is concerned about increased chatter between known terror groups.

(uncountable) In national security, the degree of communication between suspect groups and individuals, used to gauge the degree of expected terrorist activity.

chattailu

degree of communication between suspects