trill2 (tril)

[F. trille = It. trillo; from the verb.] 1. A quavering, tremulous sound; a rapid, trembling series or succe ion of tones; a warbling. Within my limits lone and still The blackbird pipes in artle trill. T. Warton , Inscription in a Hermitage. 2. In music , same as shake , 5; also, formerly, the effect now called the vibrato . I have often pitied, in a winter night, a vocal musician, and have attributed many of his trills and quavers to the coldne of the weather. Steele, Tatler, No. 222. In arioso trills and graces Ye never stray, But gravi imo, solemn ba es Ye hum away. Burns, To J. Smith. 3. A consonant pronounced with a trilling sound, as r. - Pa ing trill, in music, a melodic embellishment consisting of a rapid alternation of a principal tone with the next tone above. - Prepared trill. See prepare.