bleat

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
For the first time, too, since the bad weather had set in, was to be heard the incessant bleat which is music to the ears of a New Zealand sheep-farmer.

View all »
Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun The characteristic cry of a goat or sheep.
  2. noun A sound similar to this cry.
  3. noun A whining, feeble complaint.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • The guard let out one agonized bleat, then Monk banged him on the floor. —  028 - The Roar Devil
  • With a hideous bleat, the fellow flopped to the earth, temporarily incapable of more motion Reaching up and back. —  010 - The Phantom City
  • There was a bleat, and suddenly a sheep-like animal charged toward them. —  Xone of Contention
  • That is the sentiment of the shadow home secretary who says people are being forced to "bleat" to the police when they could deal with minor grievances themselves. —  US_Homepage_Featured_Stories
  • Just sit there and bleat, and perhaps the badge gang will elect to help you. —  Lean Left
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 155 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English blet, from bleten, to bleat, from Old English blǣtan.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English bleten, from Anglo-Saxon blǣtan = Dutch blaten, bleeten = Middle Low German Low German bleten = Old High German blāzan, Middle High German blāzen, German dial. blässen, blätzen, bleat; cf. German blöken, bleat, bellow (see balk, bolk), Latin balare, bleat (see balant), Greek βληχᾶσθαι, bleat, βληχή, Dor. βλαχά, a bleating: all perhaps ult. of imitative origin, like baa, q. v.
  2. from bleat, v.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/blit/
by American Heritage
Hear a sound »

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a year.

Recently looked up

duration · woeful · Apple · melon · murder

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich