Meaning of skirl | Babel Free

Definitions

To make a shrill sound, as of bagpipes.

Northern-England, Scotland

Examples

“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.”

“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;”

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

“To show that there is nothing absurd in this notable scheme of sending first-rate men-of-war skirling along the surface of the ocean, Mr. Macneill tells the following most marvellous story : […]”

CEFR level