Standard Lemma guide

stridulate

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • UK: /ˈstɹɪdjʊleɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To make a high-pitched chirping, grating, hissing, or squeaking sound, as male crickets and grasshoppers do, by rubbing certain body parts together.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: chirp, chirr

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

make a shrill creaking noise by rubbing together special bodily structures

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • male insects such as crickets or grasshoppers stridulate

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clitter

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: make noise, resound, noise

History

Etymology

Back-formation from stridulation. (From earlier term stridulous; from Latin strīdulus (“giving a shrill sound, creaking”), from strīdō (“utter a shrill or harsh sound; creak, shriek, grate, hiss”))

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: цвърча (cvǎrča) — to make a noise by rubbing body parts as do crickets
  • Finnish: sirittää — to make a noise by rubbing body parts as do crickets
  • French: striduler — to make a noise by rubbing body parts as do crickets
  • Italian: stridulare — to make a noise by rubbing body parts as do crickets
  • Māori: kitā — to make a noise by rubbing body parts as do crickets
  • Spanish: estridular — to make a noise by rubbing body parts as do crickets