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\ ˈchərp 
\
\chirped; chirping; chirps
Definition of chirp
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to make a chirp or a sound resembling a chirp
: to utter with a cheerful liveliness
she chirped "good morning"
chirp
nounDefinition of chirp (Entry 2 of 2)
: the characteristic short sharp sound especially of a small bird or insect
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Examples of chirp in a Sentence
Verb
The birds were chirping in the trees.
We heard the crickets chirping.
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Crickets chirped in the background as the silence stretched on for 20 seconds.
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Sheera Frenkel, New York Times, "Digital Edits, a Paid Army: Bloomberg Is ‘Destroying Norms’ on Social Media," 22 Feb. 2020 Flocks of birds chirped around him, sailing along an ominously pink morning sky.
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NBC News, "How to help Australia bushfire survivors, firefighters and wildlife," 7 Jan. 2020 Before Polynesian settlers arrived in New Zealand around the 13th century, its forests squawked, chirped and tweeted with bird life.
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Sarah Lazarus, CNN, "Can tech save the kakapo, New Zealand's 'gorgeous, hilarious' parrot?," 26 Dec. 2019 The valley echoes with chirping crickets and the mumbling of prayer, interrupted only by the occasional clang of a gong.
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Chris Schalkx, Condé Nast Traveler, "A Road Trip Through Taiwan's Hot Springs and Tea Plantations," 7 Feb. 2020 My phones have been buzzing and vibrating, blipping and chirping since the news was confirmed that Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash Sunday in Southern California at the age of 41.
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Greg Moore, azcentral, "Kobe Bryant's death hits Xennial generation, who grew up with him," 26 Jan. 2020 But the pleasure of these rooms is their permeability to the forest, which at night comes alive with grunting frogs, chirping insects, and the occasional bellow of a howler monkey.
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Alex Postman, Condé Nast Traveler, "Francis Ford Coppola's Cassa Zenda: First In," 23 Jan. 2020 With launch control activated, the Countryman erupts off the line, chirping its front Pirelli Cintuarto P7 Run Flat summer tires during the one-two shift.
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David Beard, Car and Driver, "301-HP Countryman JCW Is the Quickest Mini We've Ever Tested," 18 Jan. 2020 Delivered to your inbox on Wednesday and Friday DEAR JOAN: The predawn chirping bird referenced in your Aug. 16 column is almost certainly a California Towhee rather than a mockingbird.
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Joan Morris, The Mercury News, "Bees and wasps driving off hummingbirds at Martinez feeder," 21 Aug. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun When feeding on land, some species will squawk out rallying chirps, asking their comrades to help them forage for food, study author Pierre Pistorius, a biologist at Nelson Mandela University, tells New Scientist.
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Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, "In a First, Researchers Record Penguins Vocalizing Under Water," 23 Mar. 2020 Keep your volume up for a constantly changing, only-in-Africa symphony of snorts, grunts, growls, splashes, and chirps.
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Lindsay Lambert Day, Condé Nast Traveler, "These Wildlife Webcams Will Cure Your Cabin Fever," 18 Mar. 2020 The Gen2 is equipped with technology found in military chirp radars that helps find targets that are farther away.
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Connor Hoffman, Car and Driver, "Hey, Speeders: Valentine One Finally Has a New Radar Detector," 10 Mar. 2020 When a nurse is interacting with it in a way that would normally trigger an error message, Moxi instead emits pleasant beeps and chirps to notify them.
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Dallas News, "Medical City Dallas’ one-armed, bright-eyed Moxi is region’s first full-time nursing robot," 14 Feb. 2020 Another study looked at chirp changes among two experienced mealworm-hunting bats.
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Rebecca Boyle, Popular Science, "How Hungry Bats Call Dibs On Dinner, And Warn Others to Back Off," 16 Apr. 2014 Cats use various cues to communicate with each other, from pungent scents to a variety of chirps and growls.
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Riley Black, Smithsonian, "Why Are Black Leopards So Rare?," 18 Dec. 2019 Some even like the chirp: An entire generation of Hawaiians has grown up hearing the coquí’s call in their dreams.
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Eleanor Cummins, Popular Science, "This frog’s signature chirp can be heavenly or hellish," 15 Jan. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'chirp.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for chirp
chirp
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of chirp
: to make a short high-pitched sound
: to say (something) in a cheerful and lively way
See the full definition for chirp in the English Language Learners Dictionary
chirp
noun\ ˈchərp \
\Kids Definition of chirp
(Entry 1 of 2)
: the short high-pitched sound made by crickets and some small birds
chirp
verbchirped; chirping
Kids Definition of chirp (Entry 2 of 2)
: to make a short high-pitched sound
We heard insects chirping.
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Time Traveler for chirp
The first known use of chirp was in 1557
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