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to chirr

to chirr

9.9
To make a long high buzzing sound like a grasshopper or cicada
  • verb
  • /tʃɪr/
translation icon : chirriar
  • [bugs chirring softly]
  • crickets chirring

Examples

  • -[bugs chirring loudly]

  • As the sun set, the crickets began to chir in the warm grass, creating a soothing melody.

  • Locusts chirred, the sound moving over flat, steamy fields like a rolling wave.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The laser printer chirred quietly and spat out a flimsy sheet.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • In the stillness of the night, the cicadas chir continuously, filling the air with their vibrant sound.

  • Walking through the garden, I paused to listen to the grasshoppers chir among the flowers.

Synonyms

to buzz
vsto chirr
42 1.1

To make a low steady sound like a bee

adds a brighter trilling quality rather than only low vibration
to purr
vsto chirr
6 3.5

To make a soft steady vibrating sound like a running engine

is produced by insects and is a livelier buzzing or trilling sound
to churr
vsto chirr
  • UK
9.9

Make a low, vibrating sound that repeats, like a bird or insect

is broader, also including continuous buzzy sounds not only low trills
to chir
vsto chirr
9.3

To make a short high sound like a bird or insect

is continuous and more vibrantly buzzing rather than short trills

How Continuous

to drone
1 5.8
to chirr
9.9
to peep
2 1.5

Surface Forms

chirr infinitive
chirring present participle
chirrs third person singular
chirred past
chirred past participle

Etymology

Chirr is a sound word that copies the long, buzzing or trilling noise of insects like cicadas. A helpful way to remember it is to think of chirp and whirr—it's like a continuous, trilling 'chirp', so chirr means to make a steady, buzzing sound.