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
6
: to make a cry : call
7
: to give information or evidence
1
: to utter with musical inflections
especially
: to interpret in musical tones produced by the voice
2
: to relate or celebrate in verse
4
: to bring or accompany to a place or state by singing
sings the child to sleep
Synonyms
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
Zoe Denenberg, Southern Living, 16 Apr. 2024
At the same time, she was also being fed by music — Carlile was a pivotal early influence — and her musical mother was teaching her how to sing, harmonize and play the guitar.
—Nancy Kruh, Peoplemag, 16 Apr. 2024
All a user needs to do is sing a little, and then the service does the rest.
—Kristin Robinson, Billboard, 16 Apr. 2024
In this desert playground, a live performance can awaken the deepest part of your soul, a wind-milling art installation can alight your inner child and a stellar food spread can give you the energy to sing your heart out all night.
—Danielle Dorsey, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Bettinelli-Olpin played guitar, sang and co-wrote some of the songs for the band, which toured nationally.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
Olivia Rodrigo joined No Doubt, Will Smith pulled up for J Balvin, Justin Bieber sang with Tems, Billie Eilish threw a last-minute party at the DoLab stage, and Shakira even announced a world tour during Bizarrap’s set.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024
With green aliens dancing in the background, Smith sang a portion of the catchy tune and resurrected dance moves from the music video.
—Sandra Gonzalez, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
Meanwhile, Nicky Jam — whose melodic vocals offer a contrast to Santa’s raw rap skills — sings emotionally about the complexities of heartbreak.
—Griselda Flores, Billboard, 5 Apr. 2024
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
Verb
This one sings with all the best flavors of the season and as much feta cheese as your heart desires.
—Zoe Denenberg, Southern Living, 16 Apr. 2024
At the same time, she was also being fed by music — Carlile was a pivotal early influence — and her musical mother was teaching her how to sing, harmonize and play the guitar.
—Nancy Kruh, Peoplemag, 16 Apr. 2024
All a user needs to do is sing a little, and then the service does the rest.
—Kristin Robinson, Billboard, 16 Apr. 2024
In this desert playground, a live performance can awaken the deepest part of your soul, a wind-milling art installation can alight your inner child and a stellar food spread can give you the energy to sing your heart out all night.
—Danielle Dorsey, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Bettinelli-Olpin played guitar, sang and co-wrote some of the songs for the band, which toured nationally.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
Olivia Rodrigo joined No Doubt, Will Smith pulled up for J Balvin, Justin Bieber sang with Tems, Billie Eilish threw a last-minute party at the DoLab stage, and Shakira even announced a world tour during Bizarrap’s set.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024
With green aliens dancing in the background, Smith sang a portion of the catchy tune and resurrected dance moves from the music video.
—Sandra Gonzalez, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
Meanwhile, Nicky Jam — whose melodic vocals offer a contrast to Santa’s raw rap skills — sings emotionally about the complexities of heartbreak.
—Griselda Flores, Billboard, 5 Apr. 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.
Articles Related to sing
Dictionary Entries Near sing
Cite this Entry
“Sing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sing. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sing
1 of 2 verb1
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
sing
2 of 2 noun
: a session of group singing
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