warble

1 of 3

noun (1)

war·​ble ˈwȯr-bəl 

1

: a melodious succession of low pleasing sounds

2

: a musical trill

3

: the action of warbling

warble

2 of 3

verb

warbled; warbling ˈwȯr-b(ə-)liŋ 

intransitive verb

1

: to sing in a trilling manner or with many turns and variations

2

: to become sounded with trills, quavers, and rapid modulations in pitch

3

: sing

transitive verb

: to render with turns, runs, or rapid modulations : trill

warble

3 of 3

noun (2)

1

: a swelling under the skin especially of the back of cattle, horses, and wild mammals caused by infestation with maggots of a botfly or warble fly

2

: the maggot of a warble fly

warbled

ˈwȯr-bəld 

adjective

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• air
• lay
• melody
• song
• strain
• tune

Verb

• quaver
• trill

Examples of warble in a Sentence

Noun (1)

whistled a cheerful warble as he strolled down the street

Verb

Birds were warbling in the trees.

He warbled his way through the song.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Phoenix, on the other hand, warbles and screeches through his numbers. —Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 4 Oct. 2024

God Save the Animals contains guitar solos, gothic keyboard riffs, spare and off-key acoustic guitar, warbles, countrified fiddle, at least one very thoughtful love song, and (don’t worry) enough moments that sound like Built to Spill. —Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024

Verb

Rita also sings a variety of jazz standards, and in one early scene, brings a crowd to tears warbling an original tune for her 9-year-old son (Elliott Heffernan). —Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 3 Oct. 2024

This is the iconic horror baddie he was meant to play, a deeply unnerving dollmaker who warbles with musical malevolence, confounds the law with his Zodiac-like ciphers, and lives for glam rock and killing sprees. —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 11 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English werble tune, from Old French (Picard dialect), from werbler to sing expressively, trill, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch wervelen to turn, Old High German wirbil whirlwind — more at whirl

Noun (2)

perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to obsolete Swedish varbulde boil, from var pus + bulde swelling

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (2)

circa 1585, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing warble

• warble fly

Kids Definition

warble

1 of 2 noun

war·​ble ˈwȯr-bəl 

1

: low pleasing sounds forming a melody

2

: the action of warbling : trill

warble

2 of 2 verb

warbled; warbling -b(ə-)liŋ 

1

: to sing with trills

2

: to express by warbling

Medical Definition

warble

noun

war·​ble ˈwȯr-bəl 

1

: a swelling under the hide especially of the back of cattle, horses, and wild mammals caused by the maggot of a botfly or warble fly

2

: the maggot of a warble fly

warbled

-bəld 

adjective