Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To hum or sing softly.
  • intransitive verb To sing popular songs in a soft, sentimental manner.
  • intransitive verb Scots To roar or bellow.
  • intransitive verb To sing softly or in a humming way.
  • noun A soft singing or humming.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A low, hollow moan or bellow.
  • To utter a low continued murmuring sound resembling moaning or lamenting.
  • To sing softly and monotonously to one's self; hum softly and plaintively.
  • To utter a low muffled roar; bellow monotonously.
  • To sing in a low humming tone; hum; affect by humming.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb Scot. To make a continuous hollow moan, as cattle do when in pain.
  • intransitive verb To hum or sing in a low tone; to murmur softly.
  • intransitive verb To sing in a soft, evenly modulated manner adapted to amplifying systems, especially to sing in such a way with exaggerated sentimentality.
  • noun A low, continued moan; a murmur.
  • noun A low singing; a plain, artless melody.
  • transitive verb To sing in a low tone, as if to one's self; to hum.
  • transitive verb To soothe by singing softly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To hum or sing softly or in a sentimental manner.
  • noun A soft or sentimental hum or song.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb sing softly

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English crounen, from Middle Dutch krōnen, to lament; see gerə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle Dutch kronen ("to groan, lament"), from Proto-Germanic *kre-, from Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”).

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Examples

Comments

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  • Sun-sparkle, dew-glisten,

    Star-glow and shower;

    Cool-flowing song at night

    Where the river bends,

    And the shingle croons a tune --

    These were our friends.

    - Marguerite Wilkinson, 'A Song of Two Wanderers'.

    October 4, 2008

  • a croon too soon

    November 16, 2013

  • The shiny new thing at my local cafe is the croon or  croissant moon  Also known as swish rolls

    Everyone's been swarming them because of the shiny new thing.

    They've also got cruffins which is a croissant muffin.

    December 30, 2022