bleat
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
to give forth with or as if with a bleat.
He bleated his objections in a helpless rage.
-
to babble; prate.
noun
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the cry of a sheep, goat, or calf.
-
any similar sound.
the bleat of distant horns.
-
foolish, complaining talk; babble.
I listened to their inane bleat all evening.
verb
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(intr) (of a sheep, goat, or calf) to utter its characteristic plaintive cry
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(intr) to speak with any similar sound
-
to whine; whimper
noun
-
the characteristic cry of sheep, goats, and young calves
-
any sound similar to this
-
a weak complaint or whine
Other Word Forms
- bleater noun
- bleating noun
- bleatingly adverb
- outbleat verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of bleat
before 1000; Middle English bleten, Old English blǣtan; cognate with Dutch blaten, Old High German blāzen; akin to Latin flēre to weep
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I fed Milk and Nothing and the chickens, and they all bleated and brayed and clucked at me for more.
From Literature
Benefo gets comfortable in his seat and lounges as he watches the cows bleat, eat, and sleep.
From Literature
Trombones bleat, a tuba bellows, drums are the heart.
From Salon
Come nightfall, the eerie silence is often pierced by the woeful bleat of a wandering burro.
From Los Angeles Times
The stock market that came in like a roaring lion at the start of the 1920s went out like a bleating lamb at decade’s end.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
