Meanings
present singular third person bleats · participle present bleating · participle past bleated · past bleated · alternative blate · alternative blait
- onomatopoeicOf a sheep, goat, or calf: to make its characteristic cry; of a human, to mimic this sound.
Near-synonym: baa (sheep and goat)
1 more example
In the year 1633, the Bridget Nuns, near Xanthus, behaved like sheep, jumping about and bleating continuously.
1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 99 - derogatoryinformalOf a person, to say things of little importance to the listener.
Near-synonyms: drone on, go on
3 more examples
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.
1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLCI 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.
2016, James Lovegrove, Age of Heroes, Solaris, →ISBNAm I the odd one out for thinking this is quite alarming? That I should find it weird to see a 41-year-old influencer bleating about her “bleph”.
2025 October 11, Jo Ellison, “The forever 35 face of fashion”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 23
Synonyms & antonyms
verbOf a sheep, goat, or calf: to make its characteristic cry; of a human, to mimic this sound.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-“to make a loud noise”
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰleh₁-“to howl, cry, bleat”
- Proto-Germanic*blētijaną“to bleat”
- Proto-West Germanic*blātijan
- Old Englishblǣtan“to bleat”
- Middle Englishbleten
- Englishbleat
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βληχή, βληχάομαι
- βληχή (blēkhḗ)cry of a sheep or a goat
- βληχάομαι (blēkháomai)to make the cry of a sheep or goat
Arabic ثُغَاء, مَأْمَأَة
- ثُغَاء (ṯuḡāʔ)cry of a sheep or a goat
- مَأْمَأَة (maʔmaʔa)cry of a sheep or a goat
- مَأْمَأَ (maʔmaʔa)to make the cry of a sheep or goat
- ثَغَا (ṯaḡā)to make the cry of a sheep or goat
Bulgarian блеене, блея
- блеене (bleene)cry of a sheep or a goat
- блея (bleja)to make the cry of a sheep or goat
Catalan bel, belar
- belcry of a sheep or a goat
- belarto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Czech bečení, bek
- bečenícry of a sheep or a goat
- bekcry of a sheep or a goat
- mečenícry of a sheep or a goat
- bečetto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- mečetto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- fňukatinformal: to complain
- kňouratinformal: to complain
Danish mæh, bræge
- mæhcry of a sheep or a goat
- brægeto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- mæeto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Dutch geblaat, blaten
- geblaatcry of a sheep or a goat
- blatento make the cry of a sheep or goat
- blèrento make the cry of a sheep or goat
- mekkereninformal: to complain
Esperanto beo, bei
- beocry of a sheep or a goat
- beito make the cry of a sheep or goat
Finnish määkiminen, määintä
- määkiminencry of a sheep or a goat
- määintäcry of a sheep or a goat
- määkiäto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- päkättääto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- maristainformal: to complain
French bêlement, bêlement
- bêlementcry of a sheep or a goat
- bêlementcry of a sheep or a goat
- béguètementcry of a sheep or a goat
- bêlerto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- bégueterto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- chevroterto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- rouspéterinformal: to complain
German Blöken, blöken
- Blökencry of a sheep or a goat
- blökento make the cry of a sheep or goat
- blökeninformal: to complain
Greek βέλασμα, βελάζω
- βέλασμα (vélasma)cry of a sheep or a goat
- βελάζω (velázo)to make the cry of a sheep or goat
- βελάζω (velázo)informal: to complain
Hawaiian heʻehe, māʻāʻā
- heʻehecry of a sheep or a goat
- māʻāʻācry of a sheep or a goat
Hebrew פעיה, חניבה
- פעיה (pe'iyá)cry of a sheep or a goat
- חניבה (chanivá)cry of a sheep or a goat
- פעה (pa'á)to make the cry of a sheep or goat
- חנב (chanáv)to make the cry of a sheep or goat
Icelandic jarmur, jarma
- jarmurcry of a sheep or a goat
- jarmato make the cry of a sheep or goat
Indonesian embik, embek
- embikcry of a sheep or a goat
- embekcry of a sheep or a goat
- embikto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- mengembikto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Italian belato, belare
- belatocry of a sheep or a goat
- belareto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Latin balatus, bālō
- balatuscry of a sheep or a goat
- bālōto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Latvian blēt
- blētto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Malay embek, mengembek
- embekcry of a sheep or a goat
- mengembekto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Polish bek, beczeć
- bekcry of a sheep or a goat
- beczećto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- beczećinformal: to complain
Portuguese balido, balir
- balidocry of a sheep or a goat
- balirto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Russian бле́янье, бле́яние
- бле́янье (bléjanʹje)cry of a sheep or a goat
- бле́яние (bléjanije)cry of a sheep or a goat
- бле́ять (bléjatʹ)to make the cry of a sheep or goat
- бле́ять (bléjatʹ)informal: to complain
Scottish Gaelic meig, migead
- meigcry of a sheep or a goat
- migeadcry of a sheep or a goat
- meigeadcry of a sheep or a goat
- mèilto make the cry of a sheep or goat
- meigeallto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Spanish balido, balar
- balidocry of a sheep or a goat
- balarto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Swedish bräkande, bräka
- bräkandecry of a sheep or a goat
- bräkato make the cry of a sheep or goat
Tagalog mee, me
- meecry of a sheep or a goat
- mecry of a sheep or a goat
- mumeeto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Turkish me, meleme
- mecry of a sheep or a goat
- melemecry of a sheep or a goat
- melemekto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Welsh brefu
- brefuto make the cry of a sheep or goat
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with bleat
Anagrams
Cite this entry
bleat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bleat
“bleat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bleat. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bleat,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bleat.
Source: bleat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.