Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To sing (a note or song, for example) with trills, runs, or other melodic embellishments.
- intransitive verb To sing with trills, runs, or quavers.
- intransitive verb To be sounded in a trilling or quavering manner.
- noun The act or an instance of singing with trills, runs, or quavers.
- noun An abscessed boillike swelling on the back of cattle, deer, and certain other animals, caused by the larva of a warble fly.
- noun The warble fly, especially in its larval stage.
- noun A hard lump of tissue on a riding horse's back caused by rubbing of the saddle.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to obsolete Swedish varbulde.]
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English werbelen, from Old North French werbler, dialectal variant of Old French guerbler, to sing in a certain way (perhaps by modulating), of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch wervelen and Old Norse hvirfla, to whirl.]
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Examples
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