stridulate

(strijə lāt′)

intransitive verb stridulated, stridulating

to make a shrill grating or chirping sound by rubbing certain body parts together, as certain insects do

Origin: < ModL stridulatus, pp. of stridulare < L stridulus: see stridulous

Related Forms:

See stridulate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb strid·u·lat·ed, strid·u·lat·ing, strid·u·lates
verb, intransitive
To produce a shrill grating, chirping, or hissing sound by rubbing body parts together, as certain insects do.
verb, transitive
To produce by rubbing body parts together: “The crickets stridulated their everlasting monotonous meaningful note” (John Updike).

Origin:

Origin: From Latin strīdulus, stridulous; see stridulous

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Related Forms:

  • stridˌu·laˈtion noun
  • stridˈu·la·toˌry (-lə-tôrˌē, -tōrˌē) adjective
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