singsong
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See also: sing-song
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋsɒŋ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋsɔŋ/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˈsɪŋsɑŋ/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɪŋsɒŋ
Noun
[edit]singsong (plural singsongs)
- A piece of verse with a simple, song-like rhythm.
- An informal gathering at which songs are sung; a singing session.
- We gathered round the campfire for a little singsong.
- Bad singing or poetry.
- 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 12, lines 218–221:
- I ne'r vvith VVits and VVitlings paſt my days, / To ſpread about the Itch of Verſe and Praiſe, / Nor like a Puppy daggled thro' the Tovvn, / To fetch and carry Sing-ſong up and dovvn; […]
- A drawling or monotonous tone, as of a badly executed song.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]an informal gathering at which songs are sung; a singing session
Adjective
[edit]singsong (comparative more singsong, superlative most singsong)
- Of or relating to a piece of singsong; simple and melodic, varying in pitch.
Verb
[edit]singsong (third-person singular simple present singsongs, present participle singsonging, simple past and past participle singsonged) (intransitive)
- To utter in a singsong voice.
- 1987 May, Texas Monthly, volume 15, number 5, page 184:
- The birdlike female vendors speak only if spoken to, except when softly singsonging in a dialect that sounds like Navajo.
- (obsolete) To compose poor poetry.
- 1875, Alfred Tennyson, Queen Mary: A Drama, London: Henry S. King & Co., →OCLC, Act II, scene i, pages 65–66:
- [Y]ou sit / Sing-songing here; but, if I'm any judge, / By God, you are as poor a poet, Wyatt, / As a good soldier.
Categories:
- English compound terms
- English 2-syllable words
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- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɪŋsɒŋ
- Rhymes:English/ɪŋsɒŋ/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
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- English intransitive verbs
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- English apophonic reduplications
- en:Singing