skirl

• (UK) IPA^(key): /skɜːl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /skɜɹl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)l

Originally from Scots and Northern English dialects (as a verb), probably of Old Norse origin; ultimately imitative.

skirl (third-person singular simple present skirls, present participle skirling, simple past and past participle skirled)

1. (Scotland, Northern England) To make a shrill sound, as of bagpipes.
   • 1819, Walter Scott, “The Bride of Lammermoor”, in Collection of Ancient and Modern British Authors, Volume 14, published 1839, page 91:

     Come here, or stay where ye are, and skirl as loud ye can — it's a' ye're gude for — l say, ye auld deevil, skirl — skirl — louder — louder, woman — gar the gentles hear ye in the ha' — I have heard ye as far off as the Bass for a less matter.

   • 1829, James Hogg (as the Ettrick Shepherd), The p and the q, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 26, page 693,

     He gloom'd and he skirl'd, and, when in hard case, / He whiles gae his mother a yerk on the face;

   • 1985, Anthony Burgess, The Kingdom of the Wicked:

     Drums began to thump in a variety of rhythms. The flautists were not sure what to play. The shawm began to skirl.

skirl (plural skirls)

1. (Scotland, Northern England) A shrill sound, as of bagpipes.
   • 1977, Raja Proctor, The Illicit Immigrant, page 92:

     To a resounding wail headed by the King-Kong skirl, all gangs joined in hauling in the net.

   • 2003, Michael Morpurgo, The Last Wolf, page 26:

     'Have we found a son only to lose him?' she cried, 'And what for? For the skirl of the pipes, is it? […] '

   • 2006 [Bantam], Nick Drake, Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead, 2011, Black Swan, page 191,

     The last servants and late officials hurried into their places, the guards took their positions, and then, with a beating of the drums and a skirl of reed pipes, the whole group made its way back across the courtyard and up the stairs to the Window of Appearances between the palace and the Great Temple.

   • 2024 August 7, Paul Bigland, “'3 Peaks by Rail': ain't no mountain high enough”, in RAIL, number 1015, page 51:

     They were greeted with applause, medals and the skirl of bagpipes from our lone piper - a sound some told us encouraged tired legs for the last half-mile as the pipes could be heard on the mountain.

2. A blast (of wind-blown snow or rain); a gust (especially if accompanied by snow or rain, or a shill or whistling sound).
   • 1996 05, Gray Jacobik, “Skirts”, in Michael Pettit, editor, The Writing Path 2: Poetry and Prose from Writers' Conferences, University of Iowa Press, →ISBN, page 75:

     The wind can blow the bulk of a skirt between a woman's legs, or wrap her in a twist, or billow underneath so skirls of wind touch faintly, delightfully. Some women hear skirts murmuring or sighing, or conversing with the flesh they cover. But most skirts drape in silence, the silence of slow snow falling, or the hushed liquid glide of a […]

   • 2007 March 6, John Banville, Christine Falls: A Novel, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, page 307:

     Skirls of snow swept over the pavements, and in the roadway the tracks of cars were lined with brownish slush.

   • 2012 June 26, Glen Duncan, Talulla Rising, Vintage, →ISBN:

     Skirls of wind whisked the rain around us, blew it into our jet-lagged faces. A tracksuited jogger with a collie on a lead ran past, looking like he was in a foul mood […]

   • 2015 August 16, Lawrence Durrell, From the Elephant's Back: Collected Essays & Travel Writings, University of Alberta, →ISBN:

     ... skirls of snow have settled in the mountains and the first winter thunderstorms have come and gone. The tourists have fled, but there are often spells of good weather until Christmas. Though the little hotels are empty, the food is […]

   • 2018 July 3, Lawrence Durrell, Lawrence Durrell's Notes on Travel Volume Two: Prospero's Cell, Reflections on a Marine Venus, and Spirit of Place, Open Road Media, →ISBN:

     ... it if one looked carefully enough; but the middle distance was blotted out by skirls of rain. One could taste the dry salt on one's lips, feel its powdery dryness upon the throat and ear. Soon we crossed the bar and the few dim lights.

   • 2020 August 18, Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Doors of Eden, Orbit, →ISBN:

     It brought great skirls of snow, like the waves of the sea, raking her skin and flurrying at her clothes with a thousand sharp fingers. She staggered forwards, leaning into the wind to make progress. Mal was in the midst of the storm , hunched […]

   • 2020 October 1, Louisa Heaton, Ann McIntosh, Meredith Webber, Harlequin Medical Romance October 2020 - Box Set 2 of 2, Harlequin, →ISBN:

     ... skirls of snow that further obscured her vision and stung her cheeks.

   • 2023 September 26, Stephen Graham Jones, Don't Fear the Reaper, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 32:

     Skirls of snow are swirling across the ice of Indian Lake, meaning things are about to pick up again.

   • 2024 April 26, Stephen Sturgess, The Daughter of The Merchant of Venice, Austin Macauley Publishers, →ISBN:

     Skirls of rain blotted out the middle distance of the sea. The corsair's galiots, lying at anchor off the shore, were rocking and swaying wildly in the storm. Flashes of lightning lit up the sky, followed by a sudden torrent of […]

Also from Scots and Northern English dialects.

skirl (third-person singular simple present skirls, present participle skirling, simple past and past participle skirled)

1. Alternative form of shirl.
   • 1834 August 30, “A Ship-Builder” (anonymous contributor), “Notes on Treatise on the Resistance of Water to the Passage of Boats on Canals and other Bodies of Water, &c. By John Macneill, M.R.I.A., Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers."”, in Mechanics Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette, number 577, page 19, column 1:

     To show that there is nothing absurd in this notable scheme of sending first-rate men-of-war skirling along the surface of the ocean, Mr. Macneill tells the following most marvellous story : […]

• lirks

skirl (third-person singular simple present skirls, present participle skirlin, simple past skirlt, past participle skirlt)

1. to make a shrill sound, as of bagpipes
2. to scream
3. to shriek
4. to laugh shrilly

skirl (plural skirls)

1. shrill, piercing noise
2. scream, screech