warble
English
WOTD – 14 May 2006
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈwɔɹbl̩/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈwɔːbl̩/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)bəl
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Verb
warble (third-person singular simple present warbles, present participle warbling, simple past and past participle warbled)
- (transitive) To modulate a tone's frequency.
- (transitive) To sing like a bird, especially with trills.
- a. 1722, Matthew Prior, “Non Pareil”, in H. Bunker Wright, Monroe K. Spears, editors, The Literary Works of Matthew Prior, volume I, Second edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1971, page 683:
- Her voice more sweet than warbling sound,
Tho’ sung by nightingale or lark,
Her eyes such lustre dart around,
Compar’d to them the sun is dark.
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- (transitive) To cause to quaver or vibrate.
- 1634, John Milton, “Arcades”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, OCLC 606951673:
- touch the warbled string
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- (intransitive) To be quavered or modulated; to be uttered melodiously.
- 1714, J[ohn] Gay, “Wednesday; or, The Dumps”, in The Shepherd’s Week. In Six Pastorals, London: […] R. Burleigh […], OCLC 22942401, page 21:
- The wailings of a maiden I recite, / A maiden fair, that Sparabella hight. / Such ſtrains ne'er warble in the linnet's throat, / Nor the gay goldfinch chaunts ſo ſweet a note, [...]
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Synonyms
- (to modulate a tone's frequency): trill
Derived terms
- warbler
- warbly
Translations
to modulate a tone's frequency
to sing like a bird, especially with trills
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Noun
warble (countable and uncountable, plural warbles)
- The sound of one who warbles; singing with trills or modulations.
- (military) In naval mine warfare, the process of varying the frequency of sound produced by a narrowband noisemaker to ensure that the frequency to which the mine will respond is covered.
Etymology 2
From Middle English werble (at least for the noun), from Frankish *werbel (mole cricket), cognate to Walloon waerbea.
Noun
warble (plural warbles)
- A lesion under the skin of cattle, caused by the larva of a bot fly of genus Hypoderma.
- A small hard swelling on a horse's back, caused by the galling of the saddle.
Derived terms
- warble fly
Translations
lesion under the skin of cattle, caused by by the larva of a bot fly
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Anagrams
- bawler