From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsingsing /sɪŋ/ ●●● S1 W2 verb (past tense sang /sæŋ/, past participle sung /sʌŋ/) 1 with your voice [intransitive, transitive]APMSING to produce a musical sound with your voice She can sing beautifully. Most children enjoy singing. We had a great time singing some of the old songs.sing to My mother used to sing to me when I was young. He was singing to himself quietly.sing somebody something Come on, sing us a song! I’ve never been able to sing in tune (=sing the correct notes). She patiently sang the baby to sleep. → singing2 birds [intransitive]HBBSING if birds sing, they produce high musical sounds I could hear the birds singing outside my window.3 high noise [intransitive always + adverb/preposition]CSHIGH POSITION OR RANK to make a high whistling sound A kettle was singing on the stove.sing past A bullet sang past my ear.4 → sing somebody’s praises5 → sing a different tune6 → be singing from the same hymn sheet/book7 give information [intransitive] informalADMIT to tell people everything you know about a crime when they ask you questions about it – used especially by criminals and the police I think he’ll sing. → sing along → sing out → sing up→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
sing• A tall boy in a shrunk-up ivory sweater strolled by, hands in his pockets, singing.• Sing along if you know the words.• Now volleys of bird song are erupting from all around, with perhaps ten or more birds singing at once.• I could hear someone singing downstairs.• All the family sang 'Happy Birthday' as Dad came in.• Once again, Ashputtel sang her song for the birds; once again they came to her rescue.• Daryl sang in his high school choir.• Sophie sings in the church choir.• Anyone who could play an instrument or sing in tune was enlisted to take part in the concert.• Pretty soon, Vinnie was singing like a canary.• Beth ran toward the stream that sang on the other side of the woods.• But the organ music was lovely, although some of the vocalists sang rather modern stuff, a bit like rock and roll.• She played and sang so plaintively that I almost wept, the song was so sad.• She sat in a corner, singing softly to her baby.• They sat together and sang songs.• He and Stefan had worked out a performance programme so that Ingrid wouldn't have to sing two big roles on consecutive nights.• Come on, David, sing us a song!sang ... to sleep• Her lovely face in the candlelight, the soft pitch of her voice as she sang him to sleep.Origin sing Old English singan 