song

[sawng, song] /sɔŋ, sɒŋ/
noun
1.
a short metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad.
2.
a musical piece adapted for singing or simulating a piece to be sung: Mendelssohn's “Songs without Words.”.
3.
poetical composition; poetry.
4.
the art or act of singing; vocal music.
5.
something that is sung.
6.
an elaborate vocal signal produced by an animal, as the distinctive sounds produced by certain birds, frogs, etc., in a courtship or territorial display.
Idioms
7.
for a song, at a very low price; as a bargain:
We bought the rug for a song when the estate was auctioned off.
Origin
before 900; Middle English song, sang, Old English; cognate with German Sang, Old Norse sǫngr, Gothic saggws
Related forms
songlike, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for for a song

song

/sɒŋ/
noun
1.
  1. a piece of music, usually employing a verbal text, composed for the voice, esp one intended for performance by a soloist
  2. the whole repertory of such pieces
  3. (as modifier): a song book
2.
poetical composition; poetry
3.
the characteristic tuneful call or sound made by certain birds or insects
4.
the act or process of singing: they raised their voices in song
5.
for a song, at a bargain price
6.
(Brit, informal) on song, performing at peak efficiency or ability
Derived Forms
songlike, adjective
Word Origin
Old English sang; related to Gothic saggws, Old High German sang; see sing

Song

/sʊŋ/
noun
1.
the Pinyin transliteration of the Chinese name for Sung
Word Origin and History for for a song

song

n.

Old English sang "voice, song, art of singing; metrical composition adapted for singing, psalm, poem," from Proto-Germanic *sangwaz (cf. Old Norse söngr, Norwegian song, Swedish sång, Old Saxon, Danish, Old Frisian, Old High German, German sang, Middle Dutch sanc, Dutch zang, Gothic saggws), from PIE *songwh-o- "singing, song," from *sengwh- "to sing, make an incantation" (see sing (v.)).

Phrase for a song "for a trifle, for little or nothing" is from "All's Well" III.ii.9 (the identical image, por du son, is in Old French. With a song in (one's) heart "feeling joy" is first attested 1930 in Lorenz Hart's lyric. Song and dance as a form of vaudeville act is attested from 1872; figurative sense of "rigmarole" is from 1895.

Slang definitions & phrases for for a song

for a song

modifier

For very little money; cheap: gotthe Beetle for a song


song

Related Terms

rap song, torch song


Idioms and Phrases with for a song

for a song

Very cheaply, for little money, especially for less than something is worth. For example, “I know a man ... sold a goodly manor for a song” (Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, 3:2). This idiom alludes to the pennies given to street singers or to the small cost of sheet music. [ Late 1500s ]

song

In addition to the idiom beginning with
song
also see: