From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdirgedirge /dɜːdʒ $ dɜːrdʒ/ noun [countable] 1 APMa slow sad song sung at a funeral2 APMa song or piece of music that is too slow and boring
Examples from the Corpus
dirge• When a Hmong dies, his fellow clansmen beat out a dirge on ceremonial drums, announcing his departure for the afterworld.• There's too many metal and dirge infested undertones but they'd go down a storm supporting Silverfish.• Do you think, Cbunt, that this doleful and crude dirge of Elvis's might soon be changed?• The needles splinter the wind into dirges and laments that tell of the long and tragic history of the trees.• Listen to the dirge of the dry leaves, that were green and vigorous but a few moons before!• Their song, or their dirge, remained unsung, or at any rate unheard.• Yet the memoirs of these survivors, their dirge, is rarely inscribed in the chroniclers' sentimental journeys.Origin dirge (1400-1500) Latin dirige “guide” (the first word of a funeral song), from dirigere; → DIRECT1 