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lullaby

 [luhl-uh-bahy]   Example Sentences Origin

lull·a·by

   [luhl-uh-bahy] noun, plural -bies, verb, -bied, -by·ing.
noun
1.
a song used to lull a child to sleep; cradlesong.
2.
any lulling song.
verb (used with object)
3.
to lull with or as with a lullaby.

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Lullaby is one of our favorite verbs.
So is peculate. Does it mean:
chat, to converse
to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.
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Origin:
1550–60; equivalent to lulla, lulla(y), interjection used in cradlesongs (late Middle English lullai, lulli) + -by, as in bye-bye
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Example Sentences
  • Perhaps because it is so universal and commonplace, the lullaby doesn't get much respect.
  • These were the lullaby years, when national security hardly mattered.
  • It's that long horizon, the soothing oceanic swell-the best lullaby ever invented.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
lullaby (ˈlʌləˌbaɪ)
 
—n , pl -bies
1.  a quiet song to lull a child to sleep
2.  the music for such a song
 
—vb , -bies, -bies, -bying, -bied
3.  (tr) to quiet or soothe with or as if with a lullaby
 
[C16: perhaps a blend of lull + goodbye]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

lullaby
c.1560, lulley by, from M.E. lollai, lullay, from lullen (see lull). Second element perhaps from by-by "good-by."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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