Chirp

//t͡ʃɜːp// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A short, sharp or high note or noise, as of a bird or insect.
  2. 2
    a sharp sound made by small birds or insects wordnet
  3. 3
    A pulse of signal whose frequency sweeps through a band of frequencies for the duration of the pulse; the quality of having a such a variation in frequency.

    "The long fiber lengths required to linearize the chirp can then be used […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To make a short, sharp, cheerful note, as of small birds or crickets; to chitter; to twitter. intransitive

    ""Well, I suppose you didn't come out of the egg either before you could chirp," said the woman who was on the egg."

  2. 2
    make high-pitched sounds wordnet
  3. 3
    To speak in a high-pitched staccato. intransitive
  4. 4
    sing in modulation wordnet
  5. 5
    To modify (a pulse of signal) so that it sweeps through a band of frequencies throughout its duration. transitive
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    To cheer up; to make (someone) happier. obsolete, transitive
  2. 7
    To speak rapid insulting comical banter back and forth; to bicker or argue. Canada
  3. 8
    To inform on someone; snitch. UK, obsolete, slang

Synonyms

All synonyms
peeptweedleanthemballadbarkbawl

Example

More examples

"At sunset, the crickets begin to chirp and the fireflies light up the night."

Etymology

From Middle English *chirpen (attested only in the derivative Middle English chirpinge, cyrpynge, chyrypynge (“chirping”). Compare Middle English chirken and chirmen. More at chirk, chirm. Compare also Middle English chirten (“to smack, chirrup”).

Related phrases

chirped-pulse amplificationchirping chipschirping cupspotted chirping frog

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.