cheep
/tʃiːp
/noun
1A short, high squeaky cry made by a young bird.As you follow it along the street you begin to hear the cheeps and trills of other birds launching into a discordant chorus....
- House sparrows sing by stringing together a variety of cheeps, chirps and ‘chissiks’, and flocks can make a loud noise during courtship rituals.
- The little birds in the tree kept up a constant cheep of complaint, but it didn't break cover.
1.1A short, high sound resembling the cry of a young bird: an electronic cheep from the alarm...
- A young woman with bright red lips and a high-pitched cheep of a voice flew at me.
- As the mechanical creatures quietened, a faint cheep could be heard, then a sort of indignant squawk.
- She made about five and was on the sixth when she heard something fall on the floor and a frightened cheep from the other room.
1.2 [in singular, with negative, often as modifier] informal The slightest sound: there has not been a cheep from anybody...
- And then he gets home from work and parks his backside in front of the telly and I don't get a cheep out of him all night.
- There was not a cheep out of her, not a sulk or a pout until the euphoria began to wane.
verb [no object]
Make a short, high squeaky sound: sparrows are cheeping all around...
- I let out a few screams when one flapped their wings and chittered and cheeped at me.
- The mother bird and a few others were on the roof of the house next door, cheeping with distress.
- The chicks had been downy and charming, and cheeped sweetly with their permanently open mouths.
Synonyms
chirp, chirrup, twitter, tweet, peep, chitter, chatter, chirr, trill, warble, sing, pipe
Origin
Early 16th century (originally Scots): imitative (compare with peep2).