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
  • Fall color in the Sierra is expected to peak between late September and late October, with top leaf-peeping trails around Lake Tahoe including Hope Valley Overlook via Picket Peak, Fallen Leaf Lake and Spooner Lake.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 19 Sep. 2026
  • As fall brings some relief from summer’s heat and humidity, residents flock to Chewacla State Park, which has nearly 700 scenic acres of leaf-peeping opportunities.
    — Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 15 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • In addition to the baby goldfinches cheep-cheeping all the time at my house, our hummingbirds have escalated their season-long territorial battle to dramatic and violent heights.
    — AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • 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
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
  • People like Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who's a Florida Republican and kind of a maverick on some issues, were tweeting very soon after this warning came out saying that Congress needed to do something.
    — Dana Taylor, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2026
  • 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
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 29 Sep. 2026.

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