sing

1 of 2

verb

sang ˈsaŋ How to pronounce sing (audio) or sung ˈsəŋ How to pronounce sing (audio) ; sung; singing ˈsiŋ-iŋ How to pronounce sing (audio)

intransitive verb

1
a
: to produce musical tones by means of the voice
b
: to utter words in musical tones and with musical inflections and modulations
c
: to deliver songs as a trained or professional singer
2
: to make a shrill whining or whistling sound
3
a
: to relate or celebrate something in verse
b
: to compose poetry
c
: to create in or through words a feeling or sense of song
prose that sings
4
: to produce musical or harmonious sounds
birds singing
5
: buzz, ring
6
: to make a cry : call
7
: to give information or evidence

transitive verb

1
: to utter with musical inflections
especially : to interpret in musical tones produced by the voice
2
: to relate or celebrate in verse
3
4
: to bring or accompany to a place or state by singing
sings the child to sleep
singable adjective

sing

2 of 2

noun

: a session of group singing

Examples of sing in a Sentence

Verb She sings in the choir. The children danced and sang. He sang softly to the baby. She's a great actress, and she can dance and sing, too. We all stood and sang the national anthem. I can't sing the high notes. Do you hear the birds singing? The kettle sang on the stove. The bullet sang past his helmet.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Seeing Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie sing along was one of the night’s emotional peaks. Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2024 My uncle plays the piano, and my mother’s cousin sings on the guitar. Zaina Arafat, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Stone, who took home an award for her performance in Poor Things at the end of the night, sang and danced alongside Gosling in La La Land, but that was actually their third collaboration. Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 11 Mar. 2024 Against the backdrop of a rising sun, dozens of Osage danced and sang around a drum, bringing the crowd to its feet. Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2024 Notably, Jesse sang the song for Katie on the night of their 2019 engagement and their 2021 wedding. Mckinley Franklin, Peoplemag, 10 Mar. 2024 This is classic early ’80s dance pop with Madonna heavy-breathing her way through an opening monologue that doesn’t sound at all like an invitation to dance and sing. Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 10 Mar. 2024 The performers joined forces to collectively bang a drum, dressed in traditional Osage attire, as the women sang. Tatiana Tenreyro, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2024 Trending on Billboard The scene switches to an empty arena bathed in blood-red light, with Dun in the middle of the floor playing the song’s thundering beat as a masked Joseph materializes to sing to a room full of grim-faced young people in grey sweatsuits. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 29 Feb. 2024
Noun
In this iconic scene, the two sing and dance in matching shoes to the backdrop of a beautiful Los Angeles sky. Alexandra Schonfeld, Peoplemag, 10 Mar. 2024 The Oscar-winner sings, fights zombies, and almost punches a baby in EW's roundup of her best roles. Shania Russell, EW.com, 10 Mar. 2024 That catchiness is sure to inspire signature dance moves and more than a little sing along. Jessica Roiz, Billboard, 2 Feb. 2024 Yet the legendary musical's score swings and sings. Scott Hocker, theweek, 5 Jan. 2024 So: Is any of this so very different from the absurd, grab-bag felicity of director King's Paddington 2, where we were enchanted watching a teddy bear sing and dance in prison? Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 15 Dec. 2023 For him and others, singing those sings in Spanish proved demanding. David Browne, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2023 There are the Vines in which a teenage Rapp sings and riffs, now captured for eternity on YouTube, along with videos of her famous-to-theater-lovers 2018 Jimmy Awards performance and TikTok videos she’s shared of her younger self lip-syncing to Camp Rock songs. Time, 16 Aug. 2023 On a recent weekday, when word broke that Ticketmaster was releasing more tickets for a show in Nashville, Jen Nelson, 35, a single mom from Marstons Mills who wants to see her 9-year-old sing along with Swift, spent 14 hours on the site trying to buy two seats. Beth Teitell, BostonGlobe.com, 12 May 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English singan; akin to Old High German singan to sing, Greek omphē voice

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun

1850, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sing was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near sing

Cite this Entry

“Sing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sing. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

sing

1 of 2 verb
sang ˈsaŋ How to pronounce sing (audio) or sung ˈsəŋ How to pronounce sing (audio) ; sung; singing ˈsiŋ-iŋ How to pronounce sing (audio)
1
a
: to produce musical sounds by means of the voice
b
: to utter with musical sounds
sing a song
c
: chant entry 1 sense 2, intone
parts of the mass were sung
2
: to make pleasing musical sounds
birds singing at dawn
3
: to make a slight shrill sound
a kettle singing on the stove
4
: to express enthusiastically
sing the praises of life in the city
5
: buzz entry 1 sense 1, ring
ears singing from the sudden descent
6
: to affect or bring to a place or state by singing
sing a baby to sleep
sing the blues away
7
: to call aloud : cry out
sing out when you find them
singable adjective

sing

2 of 2 noun
: a session of group singing

More from Merriam-Webster on sing

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