TRILL • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Trill

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noun

Trill n.

A sound, of consonantal character, made with a rapid succession of partial or entire intermissions, by the vibration of some one part of the organs in the mouth tongue, uvula, epiglottis, or lip against another part; as, the r is a trill in most languages.

The action of the organs in producing such sounds; as, to give a trill to the tongue. d

(Mus.) A shake or quaver of the voice in singing, or of the sound of an instrument, produced by the rapid alternation of two contiguous tones of the scale; as, to give a trill on the high C. See Shake.

verb

Trill v. t. To turn round; to twirl. (Obs.) "Bid him descend and trill another pin."

Trill v. t. (past & past part. trilled; pres. part. trilling) To impart the quality of a trill to; to utter as, or with, a trill; as, to trill the r; to trill a note. "The sober-suited songstress trills her lay."

Trill v. i. To flow in a small stream, or in drops rapidly succeeding each other; to trickle. "And now and then an ample tear trilled down Her delicate cheek." "Whispered sounds Of waters, trilling from the riven stone."

Trill v. i. To utter trills or a trill; to play or sing in tremulous vibrations of sound; to have a trembling sound; to quaver. "To judge of trilling notes and tripping feet."

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Etymology of 'Trill'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Trill" Quotes from Famous Books

... an irresistible trill of laughter. The South Wellmouth station agent joined her. Galusha smiled in a fatherly fashion ...

— Galusha the Magnificent • Joseph C. Lincoln

... Song's excess, Sings the blackbird late and early: Nor the bobolink's trill the less Laughs for very happiness, Gurgling through its ...

— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 4, October, 1864 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various

... look came in her hardened face— She had not wept for years; But the robin's trill, as some sounds will, Jarred open the door of tears. She thought of the old home far away; She heard the whr-r-r of the mill; She heard the turtle's wild, sweet call, And the wail of the ...

— The Kingdom of Love - and Other Poems • Ella Wheeler Wilcox

... voice of Spring, The thrush's trill, the cat-bird's cry, Like some poor bird with prisoned wing That sits and sings, but ...

— The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (The Physician and Poet not the Jurist)

... midst of a winning game, I still watched eagerly and ungratefully for manatees. Kiskadees splashed rather than flew through the drenched air, an invisible black witch bubbled somewhere to herself, and a wren sang three notes and a trill which died out in a liquid gurgle. Then came another crocodile, and finally the manatees. Not only did they rise and splash and roll and indolently flick themselves with their great flippers, but they stood upright on their tails, like Alice's ...

— Edge of the Jungle • William Beebe

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