producing a quivering or vibrating sound by rapidly repeating a note; making a shrill, trembling sound.
From Italian 'trillare' meaning 'to trill,' possibly from Germanic roots meaning 'to turn' or 'to vibrate.' The word onomatopoetically captures the sound itself.
Birds and humans trill using completely different mechanisms—a songbird's syrinx vibrates hundreds of times per second while humans roll their tongue or vibrate their vocal cords, yet we use the same word to describe the eerily similar sound.
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