skirl
/skəːl
/noun
A shrill, wailing sound, especially that of bagpipes: we heard a skirl of the pipes...
- Not a car horn or police siren could be heard amid the skirl of the pipes of the annual Tartan Day celebrations.
- Instead, with the skirl of the bagpipes and a thumping bass beat, on comes Flower of Scotland and we sing along as lustily as if we are at Murrayfield.
- The melancholy skirl of the bagpipes echoing down a misty glen made my spine tingle with a strong sense of déjà-vu.
verb [no object]
(Of bagpipes) produce a shrill, wailing sound: the pipes skirled and moaned down the street (as noun skirling) the skirling of the Breton bagpipes...
- Call the number featured and a CD-rom will wing its way to you, no doubt with bagpipes skirling and free shortbread accompanying said disk.
- Off I set with kilt swirling, pipes skirling and feather bonnet flowing in what little wind there was.
- Ponting seems to suggest that he is a lone piper skirling on a distant hill.
Origin
Late Middle English (as a verb): probably of Scandinavian origin; ultimately imitative.