Chirken

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To give out a short, sharp chirping cry, as small birds or insects do ; to brighten up and become lively and merry in spirits
2. Of a bird or insect, to emit a thin, high-pitched chirp ; to grow cheerful or to cheer someone up after a low mood
3. Used of small birds or crickets making their shrill little calls ; also used for a person who lifts their spirits and turns sunny again

Etymology: "Chirken" is an older English verb meaning to chirp or squeak, a sound like a small bird or a creaking hinge. It belongs to the same family as "chirk," which survived in Scots and northern English dialect with the same sense of a thin, sharp noise. Its sound is imitative, so the word echoes what it describes. Those forms appear in English texts from the late Middle Ages, though the exact dates and earliest attestations are uncertain. Its ancestry is also debated. It is most likely related to older Germanic words for creaking or grating sounds, but the precise pathway is not clear enough to state with confidence. What is clear is that the word belongs to a group of onomatopoeic verbs, and that it has largely dropped out of standard English while lingering in regional speech.