Definition of "sing"

sing

/sɪŋ/

verb
third-person singular simple present sings, present participle singing, simple past sang, past participle sung or (archaic) sungen
1. (intransitive) To produce musical or harmonious sounds with one’s voice.
2. (intransitive) To perform a vocal part in a musical composition, regardless of technique.
3. (transitive) To express audibly by means of a harmonious vocalization.
  Quotations
  In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.
  1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion‎, page 266
4. (transitive) To soothe with singing.
5. (transitive, intransitive) Of birds, to vocalise:
  1. (ornithology) To produce a 'song', for the purposes of defending a breeding territory or to attract a mate.
  2. (literary) To produce any type of melodious vocalisation.
    Quotations
    ⁠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.
    1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], canto XXI, page 36
    The evening was still very warm, and the birds in the woods were singing in praise of spring.
    1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 68
6. (intransitive, slang) To confess under interrogation.
7. (intransitive) To make a small, shrill sound.
  Quotations
  O'er his head the flying spear / Sang innocent, and spent its force in air.
  1715–1720, Homer, [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book XXII”, in The Iliad of Homer, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […]
8. To relate in verse; to celebrate in poetry.
  Quotations
  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, […]
  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 […], book II (Pleasure), page 468
  Who would not sing for Lycidas? he knew Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.
  1637, John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646
9. (intransitive) To display fine qualities; to stand out as excellent.
  Quotations
  [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. […] ”
  2022 July 7, Sonia Fernandez, “‘Out of the Starting Gate’”, in The Current‎, University of California, Santa Barbara, archived from the original on 2022-07-07
10. (ergative) To be capable of being sung; to produce a certain effect by being sung.
  Quotations
  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.
  1875, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 118, page 685
11. (Australia) In traditional Aboriginal culture, to direct a supernatural influence on (a person or thing), usually malign; to curse.
  Quotations
  ‘We sung them two real good. We never give Louis Beck no place to find rest from his torment.’
  2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 343
noun
plural sings
1. The act, or event, of singing songs.
  Quotations
  Then all three would go off in search of the first, give it a good talking to and maybe a bit of a sing as well.
  1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 55
  Some of the young folks asked Mrs. Long could they have a sing at her home that Sunday afternoon; she readily agreed, telling them to come early, bring their songbooks, and have a good sing.
  2002, Martha Mizell Puckett, Hoyle B. Puckett, Memories of a Georgia Teacher: Fifty Years in the Classroom, page 198
  'Ah, yes, Miss Fisher, have you had a nice sing?'
  2016, Kerry Greenwood, Murder and Mendelssohn, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 287

Definition of "sing"

sing

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noun

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