to trill
- verb
- /trɪl/
- Specialized
- His head drifted down her neck, and she sighed and trilled with soft laughter.
- voice trilled
- trilled with laughter
- "Morning," trilled
Examples
-
Then I trill my tongue all the way...
-
"Goodbye, doctor," she trills, but he makes no response.
Fiction book (1993) -
"Oh good, fan mail," she trilled, laughing as she opened the first letter.
Fiction book (1997) -
A light laugh that trilled up into the supersonic, and she was gone.
Fiction book (1995) -
The granny calls to them, trilling, faint, like a little baby calling you.
Fiction book (1999) -
Indeed, Sister Alexandrine trilled, I would have to say that the exercise has been an entirely pleasant one.
Fiction book (2002) -
Kitten made a clucking sound and trilled again, breaking the sound into a high note and a low one.
Fiction book (1994) -
" Artoo swiveled his dome back around, trilling a decidedly indignant denial.
Fiction book (1991) -
The warriors nodded, breathing, "Oha(n)," and several of the women trilled their tongues to make the wicagalata cry of approval.
Fiction book (1994) -
He learned how to trill his tongue while practicing his Spanish pronunciation.
Synonyms
To make the r sound by quickly shaking the tongue
Surface Forms
Etymology
Trill comes from an old word that copies a quick, vibrating sound, like a bird's short song, so to trill an 'r' is to make your tongue 'vibrate' quickly against the roof of your mouth.