English

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Verb

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chirping

  1. present participle and gerund of chirp

Noun

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chirping (plural chirpings)

  1. (gerund of chirp) The act, or an instance of, chirping.
    • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Masques and Triumphs”, in The Essayes [], 3rd edition, London: [] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
      Let the songs be loud and cheerful, and not chirpings or pulings.
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 85:
      We heard the peculiar note of the woodcock, which resembles the repeated croaking of the frog, followed by a sharp hissing sound, somewhat like the noisy chirping of the wagtail[.]
    • 2009 January 11, Richard Lourie, “Displaced Minds”, in New York Times[1]:
      Adler's prose seeks to catch the whispers and chirpings of insanity rather than the lamentations of suffering.