Trill - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Trill :  (noun)

1: a note that alternates rapidly with another note a semitone above it [syn: shake] (verb)
1: pronounce with a trill, of the phoneme `r'; "Some speakers trill their r's"
2: sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below [syn: warble, quaver]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Trill : \Trill\, v. i. [OE. trillen to roll, turn round; of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. trilla to roll, Dan. trilde, Icel. [thorn]yrla to whirl, and E. thrill. Cf. Thrill.] To flow in a small stream, or in drops rapidly succeeding each other; to trickle. --Sir W. Scott.

And now and then an ample tear trilled down Her delicate cheek. --Shak.

Whispered sounds Of waters, trilling from the riven stone. --Glover.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Trill : \Trill\, v. t. [OE. trillen; cf. Sw. trilla to roll.] To turn round; to twirl. [Obs.] --Gascoigne.

Bid him descend and trill another pin. --Chaucer.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Trill : \Trill\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Trilling.] [It. trillare; probably of imitative origin.] 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. --Thomson.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Trill : \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. --Dryden.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Trill : \Trill\, n. [It. trillo, fr. trillare. See Trill to shake.] 1. 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.

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

3. (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.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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