sing

v. i. [ imp. Sung r Sang p. p. Sung; p. pr. & vb. n. Singing. ] [ AS. singan; akin to D. zingen, OS. & OHG. singan, G. singen, Icel. syngja, Sw. sjunga, Dan. synge, Goth. siggwan, and perhaps to E. say, v.t., or cf. Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_; voice. Cf. Singe, Song. ] 1. To utter sounds with musical inflections or melodious modulations of voice, as fancy may dictate, or according to the notes of a song or tune, or of a given part (as alto, tenor, etc.) in a chorus or concerted piece. [ 1913 Webster ]

The noise of them that sing do I hear. Ex. xxxii. 18. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To utter sweet melodious sounds, as birds do. [ 1913 Webster ]

On every bough the briddes heard I sing. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Singing birds, in silver cages hung. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To make a small, shrill sound; as, the air sings in passing through a crevice. [ 1913 Webster ]

O'er his head the flying spear
Sang innocent, and spent its force in air. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To tell or relate something in numbers or verse; to celebrate something in poetry. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bid her . . . sing
Of human hope by cross event destroyed. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To cry out; to complain. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They should sing if thet they were bent. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Singed p. pr. & vb. n. Singeing ] [ OE. sengen, AS. sengan in besengan (akin to D. zengen, G. sengen), originally, to cause to sing, fr. AS. singan to sing, in allusion to the singing or hissing sound often produced when a substance is singed, or slightly burned. See Sing. ] 1. To burn slightly or superficially; to burn the surface of; to burn the ends or outside of; as, to singe the hair or the skin. [ 1913 Webster ]

You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, . . .
Singe my white head! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

I singed the toes of an ape through a burning glass. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (a) To remove the nap of (cloth), by passing it rapidly over a red-hot bar, or over a flame, preliminary to dyeing it. (b) To remove the hair or down from (a plucked chicken or the like) by passing it over a flame. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A burning of the surface; a slight burn. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Singe. ] One who, or that which, singes. Specifically: (a) One employed to singe cloth. (b) A machine for singeing cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Sing. ] One who sings; especially, one whose profession is to sing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A songstress. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & a. [ Skr. Si&mtilde_;hala Ceylon. ] (Ethnol.) Same as Cingalese. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Sing, v. [ 1913 Webster ]

Singing bird. (Zool.) (a) Popularly, any bird that sings; a song bird. (b) Specifically, any one of the Oscines. --
Singing book, a book containing music for singing; a book of tunes. --
Singing falcon or
Singing hawk. (Zool.) See Chanting falcon, under Chanting. --
Singing fish (Zool.), a California toadfish (Porichthys porosissimus), called also midshipman; -- so called because it produces a buzzing sound with its air bladder. --
Singing flame (Acoustics), a flame, as of hydrogen or coal gas, burning within a tube and so adjusted as to set the air within the tube in vibration, causing sound. The apparatus is called also chemical harmonicon. --
Singing master, a man who teaches vocal music. --
Singing school, a school in which persons are instructed in singing. [ 1913 Webster ]