singsong

See also: sing-song

English

Alternative forms

• sing-song

Etymology

From sing +‎ song.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪŋsɒŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪŋsɔŋ/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪŋsɑŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋsɒŋ

Noun

singsong (plural singsongs)

1. A piece of verse with a simple, song-like rhythm.
2. An informal gathering at which songs are sung; a singing session.

   We gathered round the campfire for a little singsong.

3. 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; […]

4. A drawling or monotonous tone, as of a badly executed song.

Derived terms

• singsongy

Translations

a piece of verse with a simple, song-like rhythm

• Italian: cantilena (it) f
• Norwegian: allsang m

an informal gathering at which songs are sung; a singing session

• Italian: cantata (it) f
• Norwegian: allsang m

Adjective

singsong (comparative more singsong, superlative most singsong)

1. Of or relating to a piece of singsong; simple and melodic, varying in pitch.

Verb

singsong (third-person singular simple present singsongs, present participle singsonging, simple past and past participle singsonged) (intransitive)

1. 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.

2. (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.