bleat
nounEtymology
From Middle English bleten, from Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”), from Proto-West Germanic *blātijan, from Proto-Germanic *blētijaną (“to bleat”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to howl, cry, bleat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to make a loud noise”). Cognate with Scots blete, bleit, West Frisian bâlte, blaaien, blêtsje (“to bleat”), Dutch blaten (“to bleat”), Low German bleten (“to bleat”), German blaßen, blässen (“to bleat”).
- derived from *bʰel-✻
- derived from *bʰleh₁-✻
- inherited from *blātijan✻
- inherited from bleten
Definitions
The characteristic cry of a sheep or a goat.
Of a sheep, goat, or calf
Of a sheep, goat, or calf: to make its characteristic cry; of a human, to mimic this sound.
- Near-synonym: baa (sheep and goat)
- In the year 1633, the Bridget Nuns, near Xanthus, behaved like sheep, jumping about and bleating continuously.
Of a person, to complain.
- Near-synonyms: kvetch, moan, whinge, whine, holler
- The last thing we need is to hear them bleating to us about organizational problems.
›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer
Of a person, to say things of little importance to the listener.
- Near-synonyms: drone on, go on
- She came skipping to me just now, clapping her little hands and bleating about how very, very happy she was, dear Mrs Travers. The silly young geezer. I nearly conked her one with my trowel.
- I can't have, for instance, Heracles come bleating to me at some future date, asking please can he have his bow back, and getting all stroppy when I refuse to tell him where it is.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for bleat. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA