Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Nearby Words

yodel

 - 4 dictionary results

yo⋅del

[yohd-l] verb, -deled, -del⋅ing, or (especially British) -delled, -del⋅ling, noun
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1. to sing with frequent changes from the ordinary voice to falsetto and back again, in the manner of Swiss and Tyrolean mountaineers.
2. to call or shout in a similar fashion.
–noun
3. a song, refrain, etc., so sung.
4. a call or shout so uttered.
Also, yodle.


Origin:
1865–70; < G jodeln


yo⋅del⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To yodel
yo·del   (yōd'l)   
v.   yo·deled or yo·delled, yo·del·ing or yo·del·ling, yo·dels

v.   intr.
To sing so that the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal chest voice and a falsetto.
v.   tr.
To sing (a song) by yodeling.
n.  A song or cry that is yodeled.

[German jodeln, from German dialectal jo, exclamation of delight, of imitative origin.]
yo'del·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

yodel 
1827, from Ger. jodeln, from dial. Ger. jo, an exclamation of joy, of imitative origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia

yodel

type of singing in which high falsetto and low chest notes are rapidly alternated; its production is helped by the enunciation of open and closed vowels on the low and high notes of wide intervals. Yodeling is also used as a means of communicating over moderate distances by the inhabitants of mountainous regions. It is associated with the Alpine peoples of Switzerland and the Austrian Tirol. But it is found also in other mountain regions (e.g., in China and the Americas) and among the Pygmies of Africa and the Aboriginal peoples of Australia

Learn more about yodel with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see yodel on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: