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trill1
/tril/, v.t.1. to sing or play with a vibratory or quavering effect.2. Phonet. to produce (a sound) with a trill.3. (of birds, insects, etc.) to sing or utter in a succession of rapidly alternating sounds.v.i.4. to resound vibrantly, or with a rapid succession of sounds, as the voice, song, or laughter.5. to utter or make a sound or succession of sounds resembling such singing, as a bird, frog, grasshopper, or person laughing.6. to execute a shake or trill with the voice or on a musical instrument.7. Phonet. to execute a trill, esp. with the tongue, as while singing, talking, or whistling.n.8. the act or sound of trilling.9. Music. a rapid alternation of two adjacent tones; a shake.10. a similar sound, or succession of sounds, uttered or made by a bird, an insect, a person laughing, etc.11. Phonet.a. a sequence of repetitive, rapid, vibratory movements produced in any free articulator or membrane by a rush of air expelled from the lungs and often causing a corresponding sequence of contacts between the vibrating articulator and another organ or surface.b. a speech sound produced by such a trill.[1635-45; < It trillo quaver or warble in singing Gmc; cf. D trillen to vibrate, late ME trillen to shake or rock (something)]trill2/tril/, Archaic., v.i.1. to flow in a thin stream; trickle.v.t.2. to cause to flow in a thin stream.[1300-50; ME trillen to make (something) turn, to roll, flow (said of tears, water) < ODan trijlae to roll (said, e.g., of tears and of a wheelbarrow); cf. Norw trille, Sw trilla. See TRILL1]
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in phonetics, a vibration or series of flaps (see flap) of the tongue, lips, or uvula against some other part of the mouth. The Spanish rr in perro (“dog”) is a tongue trill, and the French r is sometimes pronounced as an uvular trill.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
