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skirl (SKURL) - v., to play a bagpipe; (Scot. & N. Eng.) to shriek, to make a high, loud wailing sound. n., the shrill sound made by the chanter pipe of bagpipes; (Scot. & N. Eng.) a shrill, piercing noise.
In standard English, it's used only of bagpipes, while in Scots it's also used in its original, general meaning of a shrill/shriek/screech. Sidebar: TIL shriek and screech are from the same Proto-Germanic root, with the former passed into Middle English from an uncertain North Germanic source and the latter passed into Old English from Old Norse. /sidebar Skirl is origin unknown but generally assumed to be Scandinavian, arriving in Middle Scots.
---L.
In standard English, it's used only of bagpipes, while in Scots it's also used in its original, general meaning of a shrill/shriek/screech. Sidebar: TIL shriek and screech are from the same Proto-Germanic root, with the former passed into Middle English from an uncertain North Germanic source and the latter passed into Old English from Old Norse. /sidebar Skirl is origin unknown but generally assumed to be Scandinavian, arriving in Middle Scots.
---L.
