tweedle

[ tweed-l ]

verb (used without object)

, twee·dled, twee·dling.

1. to produce high-pitched, modulated sounds, as a singer, bird, or musical instrument.
2. to perform lightly upon a musical instrument.

verb (used with object)

, twee·dled, twee·dling.

1. to lure by or as by music:

   The Pied Piper tweedled the children into following him.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tweedle¹

First recorded in 1675–85; imitative

Example Sentences

“I’ll miss the living tweedle out of chatting with the many friends I made there about plants, dogs, life and everything gardening.”

From Seattle Times

Gorey admires O’Hara’s ease, how he would “sit down and tweedle, tweedle, tweedle, write another three-page poem, then off to the movies.”

From New York Times

Researcher Susanne Schötz at Lund University won the biology prize for her analyses of a range of cat sounds—from purrs, trills, and tweedles to meows, yowls, and hisses.

From Science Magazine

The biology prize—one of 10 awards—went to a series of studies on the purrs, trills, tweedles, murmurs, meows, yowls, and other sounds cats seem to use to communicate their desires to humans.

From Science Magazine

The segment turned out quite funny, yet informative, and when the programing director saw it, he surprised the living tweedle out of Meeghan by asking her to do a show with me.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• trill
• warble