Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Lilt

Lilt (lĭlt), v. i. [Cf. Norw. lilla, lirla, to sing in a high tone.] 1. To do anything with animation and quickness, as to skip, fly, or hop. [Prov. Eng.] Wordsworth.

2. To sing cheerfully. [Scot.]

Lilt, v. t. To utter with spirit, animation, or gayety; to sing with spirit and liveliness.

A classic lecture, rich in sentiment, With scraps of thundrous epic lilted out By violet-hooded doctors. Tennyson.

Lilt, n. 1. Animated, brisk motion; spirited rhythm; sprightliness.

The movement, the lilt, and the subtle charm of the verse. F. Harrison.

2. A lively song or dance; a cheerful tune.

The housewife went about her work, or spun at her wheel, with a lilt upon her lips. J. C. Shairp.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.