skirl

1 of 2

verb

ˈskər(-ə)l 

ˈskir(-ə)l

skirled; skirling; skirls

intransitive verb

of a bagpipe : to emit the high shrill tone of the chanter

also : to give forth music

transitive verb

: to play (music) on the bagpipe

skirl

2 of 2

noun

: a high shrill sound produced by the chanter of a bagpipe

Did you know?

Not many musical instruments are honored with their very own verb. But then, not many musical instruments emit a sound quite like that of a bagpipe. Depending on your ear, you might think bagpipes "give forth music," or you might be more apt to say they "shriek." If you are of the latter opinion, your thinking aligns with the earliest sense of skirl—"to shriek" —used of screeching winds, wee bairns, and the like. Scottish poet Robert Sempill first used it for bagpipes in the mid-1600s. The meaning of skirl has shifted over time, however, and these days you can use the verb without causing offense to bagpipers or bagpipe enthusiasts.

Examples of skirl in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The skirl of the bagpipes, the street jugglers, the whisky tastings, the…wait, what the heck is that? —James Hookway, WSJ, 4 June 2023

Then came the twirling, colorful, ruffled dresses of dancers from Grupo Folklorico de Bendiciones followed by the precision of the San Antonio Pipes & Drums, complete with the skirl of bagpipes and booming of drums. —Vincent T. Davis, ExpressNews.com, 1 Feb. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English (Scots) skrillen, skirlen to scream, shriek, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect skræla to cry aloud; akin to Old English scrallettan to resound loudly

First Known Use

Verb

circa 1665, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun

1856, in the meaning defined above

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