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Definition of "stridulate" []

  • To produce a shrill grating, chirping, or hissing sound by rubbing body parts together, as certain insects do. (verb-intransitive)
  • To produce by rubbing body parts together: "The crickets stridulated their everlasting monotonous meaningful note” ( John Updike). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "stridulate" in a sentence
  • "When disturbed by a would be attacker the caterpillars stridulate by rubbing their mouth parts together, creating broadband chirps spanning from 3.7-55.1 kHz."
  • "It required a considerable effort on the thranx's part not to stridulate wildly as he entered."
  • "Many insects stridulate by rubbing together specially modified parts of their hard integuments."