lullaby

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a quiet, soothing song sung to help a baby or young child fall asleep

   She sang the baby the same lullaby every night.

2. 2
   verb

   to soothe or sing to someone with a lullaby

   The nurse lullabied the restless child to sleep.

Recorded in the sixteenth century, from the verb lull, 'to soothe to sleep,' plus bye, as in the repeated soothing sounds of bye-bye. It replaced or developed from earlier cradle-song expressions and can also function as a verb meaning 'to sing or soothe with a lullaby.'

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