sing
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: sĭng
ipa: /sɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɪŋ
Forms: form: sings
form: singing
form: sang
form: sung
form: sungen
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: sing
form: sing
form: sang
form: sung
form: sing
form: singest
form: sang
form: sung
form: sangest
form: sungest
form: sings
form: singeth
form: sang
form: sung
form: sing
form: sang
form: sung
form: sing
form: sang
form: sung
form: sing
form: -
form: singing
form: sung
form: sungen
Etymology: From Middle English singen, from Old English singan (“to sing”), from Proto-West Germanic *singwan, from Proto-Germanic *singwaną (“to sing”), from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ- (“to recite, sing”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian sjunge (“to sing”), West Frisian sjonge (“to sing”), Dutch zingen (“to sing”), German Low German singen (“to sing”), German singen (“to sing”), Danish synge (“to sing”), Swedish sjunga (“to sing”), Icelandic syngja (“to sing”), Ancient Greek ὀμφή (omphḗ, “voice, oracle”).
Senses: examples: text: "I really want to sing in the school choir," said Vera.
glosses: To produce musical or harmonious sounds with one’s voice.
glosses: To perform a vocal part in a musical composition, regardless of technique.
examples: text: sing a lullaby
text: In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.
ref: 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266:
glosses: To express audibly by means of a harmonious vocalization.
examples: text: to sing somebody to sleep
glosses: To soothe with singing.
topics: biology
natural-sciences
ornithology
glosses: Of birds, to vocalise:
To produce a 'song', for the purposes of defending a breeding territory or to attract a mate.
examples: text: ⁠I do but sing because I must,
And pipe but as the linnets sing:
And unto one her note is gay,
⁠For now her little ones have ranged;
⁠And unto one her note is changed,
Because her brood is stol’n away.
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 36:
text: The evening was still very warm, and the birds in the woods were singing in praise of spring.
ref: 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 68:
glosses: Of birds, to vocalise:
To produce any type of melodious vocalisation.
glosses: To confess under interrogation.
examples: text: The air sings in passing through a crevice.
text: a singing kettle
text: O'er his head the flying spear / Sang innocent, and spent its force in air.
ref: 1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book XXII”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:
glosses: To make a small, shrill sound.
examples: text: Again I bid the mournful Goddeſs write / The fond Purſuit of fugitive Delight: / Bid her exalt her melancholy Wing, / And rais'd from Earth, and ſav'd from Paſſion, ſing / Of human Hope by croſs Event deſtroyed, / Of uſeleſs Wealth, and Greatneſs unenjoy'd, […]
ref: 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, book II (Pleasure), page 468:
text: Who would not sing for Lycidas? he knew Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.
ref: 1637, John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:
glosses: To relate in verse; to celebrate in poetry.
examples: text: The sauce really makes this lamb sing.
text: [Alissa Monte said] “This result was all about demonstrating that LZ [the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment] works, and it does! As we take more data and mature our analyses, we get to make LZ sing. […]”
ref: 2022 July 7, Sonia Fernandez, “‘Out of the Starting Gate’”, in The Current, University of California, Santa Barbara, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2022:
glosses: To display fine qualities; to stand out as excellent.
examples: text: No song sings well unless it is open-vowelled, and has the rhythmic stress on the vowels. Tennyson's songs, for instance, are not generally adapted to music.
ref: 1875, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 118, page 685:
glosses: To be capable of being sung; to produce a certain effect by being sung.
examples: text: ‘We sung them two real good. We never give Louis Beck no place to find rest from his torment.’
ref: 2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 343:
glosses: In traditional Aboriginal culture, to direct a supernatural influence on (a person or thing), usually malign; to curse.
examples: text: I took my flogging like a stone. If I had sung, some of the convicts would have given me some lush with a locust in it (laudanum hocussing), and when I was asleep would have given me a crack on the head that would have laid me straight.
ref: 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
glosses: To yell or shout.
Synonyms: word: sing
Hypernyms: word: utter
word: vocalize
Hyponyms: word: belt
word: belt out
word: carol
word: chant
word: croon
word: hymn
word: intonate
word: intone
word: lilt
word: scat
word: serenade
word: warble
word: yodel
Coordinate terms: word: bawl
word: holler
word: howl
word: hum
word: mouthe
word: murmur
word: speak
word: shout
word: talk
word: whisper
word: whistle
Derived terms: all-singing all-dancing
all-singing-and-dancing
besing
foresing
go sing
mis-sing
New Guinea singing dog
overtone singing
part singing
scat singing
sight sing
sing a different tune
sing along
sing-along
singer
sing for one's supper
sing from the same hymnal
sing from the same hymnbook
sing from the same hymn sheet
singing
singing chambermaid
singing cowboy
singing dog
singing fish
singing flame
singing girl
singing ground
singing hinny
singing sand
singing saw
singing soprano
singing telegram
singing voice
sing Kumbaya
sing like a bird
sing like a canary
sing off the same hymn sheet
sing out
sing small
singsong
sing soprano
sing the praises
sing the praises of
sing the same tune
sing up
throat singing
Related terms: song