singsong

plural singsongs · alternative sing-song

1. countableuncountableA piece of verse with a simple, songlike rhythm.
2. countableuncountableAn informal gathering at which songs are sung; a singing session.

   We gathered round the campfire for a little singsong.

3. countableuncountableLow-quality singing or poetry.

   I ne'r vvith VVits and VVitlings paſt my days, / To ſpread about the Itch of Verſe and Praiſe, / Nor like a Puppy daggled thro' the Tovvn, / To fetch and carry Sing-ſong up and dovvn; […]

   1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 12, lines 218–221

4. countableuncountableA drawling or monotonous tone, as of a poorly executed song.

comparative more singsong · superlative most singsong · alternative sing-song

1. Of or relating to a piece of singsong; simple and melodic, varying in pitch.

present singular third person singsongs · participle present singsonging · participle past singsonged · past singsonged · alternative sing-song

1. intransitiveTo utter in a singsong voice.

   The birdlike female vendors speak only if spoken to, except when softly singsonging in a dialect that sounds like Navajo.

   1987 May, Texas Monthly, volume 15, number 5, page 184

2. intransitiveobsoleteTo compose poor poetry.

   [Y]ou sit / Sing-songing here; but, if I'm any judge, / By God, you are as poor a poet, Wyatt, / As a good soldier.

   1875, Alfred Tennyson, Queen Mary: A Drama, London: Henry S. King & Co., →OCLC, Act II, scene i, pages 65–66