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Webster 1913 Edition

Bleat

Bleat

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Bleated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Bleating
.]
[OE.
bleten
, AS.
bl[GREEK]tan
; akin to D.
blaten
,
bleeten
, OHG.
blāzan
,
plāzan
; prob. of imitative origin.]
To make the noise of, or one like that of, a sheep; to cry like a sheep or calf.
Then suddenly was heard along the main,
To low the ox, to
bleat
the woolly train.
Pope
The ewe that will not hear her lamb when it baas, will never answer a calf when he
bleats
.
Shakespeare

Bleat

,
Noun.
A plaintive cry of, or like that of, a sheep.
The
bleat
of fleecy sheep.
Chapman’s Homer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bleat

BLEAT

,
Verb.
I.
[L. blatero; plaudo.] To make the noise of a sheep; to cry as a sheep.

BLEAT

,
Noun.
The cry of a sheep.

Definition 2024

bleat

bleat

English

Alternative forms

  • blate, blait (Scotland)

Noun

bleat ‎(plural bleats)

  1. The characteristic cry of a sheep or a goat.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

bleat ‎(third-person singular simple present bleats, present participle bleating, simple past and past participle bleated)

  1. Of a sheep or goat, to make its characteristic cry.
  2. (informal) Of a person, to complain.
    The last thing we need is to hear them bleating to us about organizational problems.

Synonyms

Translations

Anagrams

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *blautaz, whence also Old High German blōz ‎(“naked”), Old Norse blautr. More at blouse.

Pronunciation

Adjective

blēat

  1. wretched

Declension

Etymology

From Middle English bleten, from Old English blǣtan ‎(“to bleat”), from Proto-Germanic *blētijaną ‎(“to bleat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- ‎(“to howl, cry, bleat”). Cognate with Scots blete, bleit ‎(“to bleat”), Saterland Frisian blēte, blētsje ‎(“to bleat”), Dutch blaten, bleiten ‎(“to bleat”), Low German bleten ‎(“to bleat”), German blaßen, blässen ‎(“to bleat”); compare Ancient Greek βληχή ‎(blēkhḗ), Old Church Slavonic блєꙗти ‎(blejati), and also Latin fleō ‎(“cry, weep”).

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -iːt
  • IPA(key): /ˈblæːɑt/

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