Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The sharp whirring or trilling sound made by some insects and birds, such as the grasshopper and partridge.
- intransitive verb To make a sharp whirring sound.
from The Century Dictionary.
- See
chirr . - noun A name for the whitethroat, Sylvia cinerea. Macgillivray.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To utter by churring.
- intransitive verb To make a churr, as a cockchafer.
- noun A vibrant or whirring noise such as that made by some insects, as the cockchafer, or by some birds, as the nightjar, the partridge, etc.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb Alternative spelling of
chirr .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make a vibrant sound, as of some birds
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The bird lands on the roof and begins to churr, giving a “sensible vibration to the whole building.”
A Year on the Wing TIM DEE 2009
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February 21, 2008 at 4:00 pm book cud be litter a churr
i gotz u a rly good book… - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
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Only a cricket from time to time gave a cautious churr, and a mouse was scratching somewhere; he could hear his own breathing.
The Inn 2006
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Even the grasshoppers ceased their churr in the trees — only a window rattled somewhere.
First Love 2006
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Here and there, both on the river and in the fields, other lights were glimmering, whether close at hand or far away, the eye could not distinguish; they shrank together, then suddenly lengthened out into great blurs of light; grasshoppers innumerable kept up an unceasing churr, persistent as the frogs of the Pontine marshes; and across the cloudless, but dark lowering sky floated from time to time the cries of unseen birds.
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Then we have the loud cry of francolins, the “pumpuru, pumpuru” of turtle-doves, and the “chiken, chiken, chik, churr, churr” of the honey-guide.
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With a satisfied little churr, the baby collapsed on Leryn's feet, staring adoringly up at him.
And Other Tales Of Valdemar Lackey, Mercedes 1997
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They were cutting the grass on the tennis court below; he heard the soft churr of the mower.
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Some know her as the night-jar, others as the fern-owl, and still others designate her as the eve-churr.
Janey Canuck in the West Emily Ferguson 1910
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Dragon was yet a long way off; though indeed it must be allowed that flight, when Chwangtse wrote and Ch'u Yuan sung, was surprised with the far churr of startling wings under the stars.
The Crest-Wave of Evolution A Course of Lectures in History, Given to the Graduates' Class in the Raja-Yoga College, Point Loma, in the College-Year 1918-19 Kenneth Morris 1908
chained_bear commented on the word churr
"...nightjars churred in the orchard..."
--P. O'Brian, The Commodore, 72
See also churring.
March 16, 2008