sing

Etymology

From Middle English singen, from Old English singan, from Proto-West Germanic *singwan, from Proto-Germanic *singwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ-. Cognate with German singen (“to sing”). Recorded singing from a person.

verb

1. (intransitive) To produce musical or harmonious sounds with one’s voice.
   "I really want to sing in the school choir," said Vera.
2. (intransitive) To perform a vocal part in a musical composition, regardless of technique.
3. (transitive) To express audibly by means of a harmonious vocalization.
   sing a lullaby
   In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road. 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266
4. (transitive) To soothe with singing.
   to sing somebody to sleep
5. (transitive, intransitive) Of birds, to vocalise:
   1. (ornithology) To produce a 'song', for the purposes of defending a breeding territory or to attract a mate.
   2. (literary) To produce any type of melodious vocalisation.
      The evening was still very warm, and the birds in the woods were singing in praise of spring. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 68
6. (intransitive, slang) To confess under interrogation.
7. (intransitive) To make a small, shrill sound.
   The air sings in passing through a crevice.
   a singing kettle
8. To relate in verse; to celebrate in poetry.
9. (intransitive) To display fine qualities; to stand out as excellent.
   The sauce really makes this lamb sing.
   [Alissa Monte said] “This result was all about demonstrating that LZ [the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment] works, and it does! As we take more data and mature our analyses, we get to make LZ sing. […]” 2022-07-07, Sonia Fernandez, “‘Out of the Starting Gate’”, in The Current, University of California, Santa Barbara, archived from the original on 2022-07-07
10. (ergative) To be capable of being sung; to produce a certain effect by being sung.
    No song sings well unless it is open-vowelled, and has the rhythmic stress on the vowels. Tennyson's songs, for instance, are not generally adapted to music. 1875, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 118, page 685
11. (Australia) In traditional Aboriginal culture, to direct a supernatural influence on (a person or thing), usually malign; to curse.
    ‘We sung them two real good. We never give Louis Beck no place to find rest from his torment.’ 2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 343

noun

1. The act, or event, of singing songs.
   I sometimes have a quick sing in the shower.
   Then all three would go off in search of the first, give it a good talking to and maybe a bit of a sing as well. 1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 55
   Some of the young folks asked Mrs. Long could they have a sing at her home that Sunday afternoon; she readily agreed, telling them to come early, bring their songbooks, and have a good sing. 2002, Martha Mizell Puckett, Hoyle B. Puckett, Memories of a Georgia Teacher: Fifty Years in the Classroom, page 198
   'Ah, yes, Miss Fisher, have you had a nice sing?' 2016, Kerry Greenwood, Murder and Mendelssohn, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 287