bleat

[bleet] /blit/
verb (used without object)
1.
to utter the cry of a sheep, goat, or calf or a sound resembling such a cry.
verb (used with object)
2.
to give forth with or as if with a bleat:
He bleated his objections in a helpless rage.
3.
to babble; prate.
noun
4.
the cry of a sheep, goat, or calf.
5.
any similar sound:
the bleat of distant horns.
6.
foolish, complaining talk; babble:
I listened to their inane bleat all evening.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English bleten, Old English blǣtan; cognate with Dutch blaten, Old High German blāzen; akin to Latin flēre to weep
Related forms
bleater, noun
bleatingly, adverb
outbleat, verb (used with object)
Examples from the web for bleat
  • Their call is described as a nasal w-a-a-a-a-a-h, similar to the bleat of a sheep, that lasts about one to two and a half seconds.
  • In restaurants, the beep, chirp and bleat of cell phones has become so annoying that some have begun posting signs banning them.
  • Such companies frequently bleat that personal data is secure and inviolable.
  • Here are eight potential products coming soon from bioreactors that bloom, moo, and bleat.
  • They bleat forlornly of their need for more money and more power to solve a nonexistent problem.
  • And the lambs, where appropriate, can bleat their last.
  • Every line has a strained flourish, an earnest bleat of emotion.
  • Even in the lyrical tomb scene he tended to bleat and sing without expression.
  • But the bleat of her voice left her somehow less there herself.
  • The shrill bleat of smoke detectors and the shrieks of people in the house awakened neighbors on the quiet street.
British Dictionary definitions for bleat

bleat

/bliːt/
verb
1.
(intransitive) (of a sheep, goat, or calf) to utter its characteristic plaintive cry
2.
(intransitive) to speak with any similar sound
3.
to whine; whimper
noun
4.
the characteristic cry of sheep, goats, and young calves
5.
any sound similar to this
6.
a weak complaint or whine
Derived Forms
bleater, noun
bleating, noun, adjective
Word Origin
Old English blǣtan; related to Old High German blāzen, Dutch blaten, Latin flēre to weep; see blare
Word Origin and History for bleat
v.

Old English blætan, from West Germanic *bhle- (cf. Dutch blaten "to bleat"), of imitative origin (cf. Greek blekhe "a bleating; the wailing of children," Old Church Slavonic blejat "to bleat," Latin flere "to weep"). Related: Bleated; bleating.

n.

c.1500, from bleat (v.).