Definitions for: Trill


[n] a note that alternates rapidly with another note a semitone above it
[v] sing with trills
[v] pronounce with a trill, of the phoneme 'r'; "Some speakers trill their r's"



Webster (1913) Definition: 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.


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.


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.


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.


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.

Synonyms: quaver, shake, warble

See Also: articulate, enounce, enunciate, musical note, note, pronounce, say, sing, sound out, tone

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