warbling
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war·ble 1
(wôr′bəl)v. war·bled, war·bling, war·bles
v.tr.
To sing (a note or song, for example) with trills, runs, or other melodic embellishments.
v.intr.
1. To sing with trills, runs, or quavers.
2. To be sounded in a trilling or quavering manner.
n.
The act or an instance of singing with trills, runs, or quavers.
[Middle English werbelen, from Old North French werbler, dialectal variant of Old French guerbler, to sing in a certain way (perhaps by modulating), of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch wervelen and Old Norse hvirfla, to whirl.]
war·ble 2
(wôr′bəl)n.
1.
a. An abscessed boillike swelling on the back of cattle, deer, and certain other animals, caused by the larva of a warble fly.
b. The warble fly, especially in its larval stage.
2. A hard lump of tissue on a riding horse's back caused by rubbing of the saddle.
[Probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to obsolete Swedish varbulde.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
warbling
(ˈwɔːblɪŋ)n
1. (Music, other) the act or an instance of singing with trills, runs, and other embellishments
2. (of an inanimate object) the act of making a high, trilling sound, or the sound made
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