chirping

present participle of chirp
as in peeping
to make a short sharp sound like a small bird the sparrows were chirping up a storm in the backyard

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of chirping There’s even a soundtrack of chirping birds and rushing water. Jen Murphy, Travel + Leisure, 7 Sep. 2026 According to several people seated near Kanter Freedom, Alter said the former NBA player began chirping at Cloud throughout the quarter. Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026 Palm trees abound; a perpetual breeze and a soundtrack of chirping birds complement the luscious grounds. Baz Dreisinger, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Even though the first game sold out on a rainy night, on the second night, a clear summer evening with cicadas chirping beneath a starry sky, the stadium was only two-thirds full. Kendra Nordin Beato, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2026 Field recordings—from the preparation of street food to birds chirping, taken mostly in public spaces around Doha—are a kind of sonic memory of a place that is rapidly changing. Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, ARTnews.com, 3 Aug. 2026 As totality nears, the light around you changes timbre, shadows sharpen, birds stop chirping and crickets start singing as if night is falling. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 17 July 2026 The chirping incited a scuffle that led to four ejections and four suspensions. Spencer Nusbaum, New York Times, 5 July 2026 Think your back yard can get buggy in the summer—with mosquitoes, flies, moths, wasps, bees, lightning bugs, crickets, and more swarming, buzzing, and chirping everywhere? Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 29 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chirping
Verb
  • The Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office is issuing a warning about parking restrictions in Colorado's mountains ahead of leaf-peeping season.
    Jennifer McRae, CBS News, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Book These Amtrak Routes Each journey offers scenic and convenient access to premier leaf peeping destinations in the US and Canada.
    Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Recorded on five reel-to-reel decks, the composer’s 1975 piece blends everyday and exotic sounds—human breath, cheeping frogs, bubbling geysers—into a passionate defense of the raptures of listening.
    Joshua Minsoo Kim, Pitchfork, 28 Apr. 2026
  • There are fewer song sparrows cheeping amid the shrubs and grasses.
    Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • The ice rocked four or five feet in each direction, and suddenly a group of penguins surfaced beside the kayak and started chittering.
    Jordi Lippe-McGraw, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 May 2026
  • Harding sings in the hooded, lower end of her range, and the music is filled with nighttime sounds—chittering percussion, organ.
    Jayson Greene, Pitchfork, 8 May 2026
Verb
  • In early September 2026, Oasis started tweeting video that featured a series of numbers that fans clocked as coordinates for various venues.
    Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Not the clotheslining and rage-tweeting-about-White-privilege-from-the-locker-room kind.
    Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The juncos twittering around us sounded gladder than usual to be alive.
    Brian Laidlaw, Longreads, 1 Sep. 2026
  • To Tommy, Anna and Molly are twittering encumbrances, idiotic in their insistence on good works and the good of man, their endless remorseful hedgings about the Communist Party.
    Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • There was something that got a lot of people chattering in the world of math.
    Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Some were already chattering about hitting Angine de Poitrine’s two nights at the Wiltern in December.
    Josh Martin, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The chihuahuan raven has a somewhat different vocalization, with more of a trilling quality to its croak.
    Blythe Copeland, Martha Stewart, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Rock Harbor to Daisy Farm Campground This trail almost entirely follows the coast for 7 miles, with a soundtrack of lapping waves, trilling loons, and the occasional outboard motor.
    Robert Annis, Midwest Living, 7 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Chirping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chirping. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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