trilling

4 definitions • 4 examples

present participle of

When birds trill, they sing a series of quickly repeated high notes.

to speak in a very high voice:

[ + speech ] "I'll be right down!" trilled Daphne.

to play a note and the note above or below it, one after the other, fast several times:

They trill on a diminished harmony, resolved with a leap.

All three voices swoop down to a trilled dominant and a final cadence.

A trilling flute represents birdsong.