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chirp

/tʃərp/

/tʃəp/

Other forms: chirping; chirped; chirps

A chirp is the short, high sound a bird makes. The chirps of the robins at your bird feeder through the open window might drive your cat crazy.

Birds chirp — you could also say they tweet, twitter, cheep, and warble — and some insects chirp too. An extremely cheerful person also chirps: "The overly enthusiastic tour guide chirps happily as the bus moves through the city." Chirp may have developed as an imitation of the sound itself, or it may stem from the Middle English chirken, "twitter," which is rooted in the Old English cearcian, "to creak."

Definitions of chirp
  1. noun
    a sharp sound made by small birds or insects
    see moresee less
    types:
    tweet
    a weak chirping sound as of a small bird
    type of:
    sound
    the sudden occurrence of an audible event
  2. verb
    make high-pitched sounds
    “the birds were chirping in the bushes”
    synonyms: cheep, chirrup, peep
    see moresee less
    types:
    chitter, twitter
    make high-pitched sounds, as of birds
    type of:
    emit, let loose, let out, utter
    express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words)
  3. verb
    sing in modulation
    synonyms: tweedle
    see moresee less
    type of:
    sing
    produce tones with the voice
Pronunciation
US

/tʃərp/

UK

/tʃəp/

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