Meaning

(Scotland, Northern England) To make a shrill sound, as of bagpipes..

Definitions by Sense

1. (Scotland, Northern England) To make a shrill sound, as of bagpipes.
2. (Scotland, Northern England) A shrill sound, as of bagpipes.
3. A blast (of wind-blown snow or rain); a gust (especially if accompanied by snow or rain, or a shill or whistling sound).
4. Alternative form of shirl.

Example Sentences

1829, James Hogg (as the Ettrick Shepherd), The p and the q, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 26, page 693, He gloom'd and he skirl'd, and, when in hard case, / He whiles gae his mother a yerk on the face;

Come here, or stay where ye are, and skirl as loud ye can — it's a' ye're gude for — l say, ye auld deevil, skirl — skirl — louder — louder, woman — gar the gentles hear ye in the ha' — I have heard ye as far off as the Bass for a less matter.

Drums began to thump in a variety of rhythms. The flautists were not sure what to play. The shawm began to skirl.

2006 [Bantam], Nick Drake, Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead, 2011, Black Swan, page 191, The last servants and late officials hurried into their places, the guards took their positions, and then, with a beating of the drums and a skirl of reed pipes, the whole group made its way back across the courtyard and up the stairs to the Window of Appearances between the palace and the Great Temple.

To a resounding wail headed by the King-Kong skirl, all gangs joined in hauling in the net.

'Have we found a son only to lose him?' she cried, 'And what for? For the skirl of the pipes, is it?[…]'

They were greeted with applause, medals and the skirl of bagpipes from our lone piper - a sound some told us encouraged tired legs for the last half-mile as the pipes could be heard on the mountain.

The wind can blow the bulk of a skirt between a woman's legs, or wrap her in a twist, or billow underneath so skirls of wind touch faintly, delightfully. Some women hear skirts murmuring or sighing, or conversing with the flesh they cover. But most skirts drape in silence, the silence of slow snow falling, or the hushed liquid glide of a[…]

Word Forms

• skirls
• skirling
• skirled

Synonyms for skirl

Related Words

When Should You Use Skirl?

Use skirl when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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