jingle

English

Etymology

(onomatopoeia); compare jangle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɪŋɡəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋɡəl

Noun

jingle (plural jingles)

1. The sound of metal or glass clattering against itself.

   He heard the jingle of her keys in the door and turned off the screen.

2. (music) A small piece of metal attached to a musical instrument, such as a tambourine, so as to make a jangling sound when the instrument is played.

   Her tambourine didn't come with any jingles attached.

3. (advertising) A memorable short song, or in some cases a snippet of a popular song with its lyrics modified, used for the purposes of advertising a product or service in a TV or radio commercial.

   That used-car dealership's jingle has been stuck in my head since we heard that song.

   • 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1]:

     The best of friends become the worst of enemies when Barney makes a hilarious attack ad where he viciously pummels a cardboard cut-out of Homer before special guest star Linda Ronstadt joins the fun to both continue the attack on the helpless Homer stand-in and croon a slanderously accurate, insanely catchy jingle about how “Mr. Plow is a loser/And I think he is a boozer.”

4. A carriage drawn by horses.
   • 1916, James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, page 85:

     They drove in a jingle across Cork while it was still early morning and Stephen finished his sleep in a bedroom of the Victoria Hotel.

5. (slang) A brief phone call; a ring.

   Give me a jingle when you find out something.

6. Alternative form of jingle shell

Coordinate terms

• (snippet of a popular melody): clock chime

Translations

sound

• Czech: cinkání n, cinkot m
• Dutch: gerinkel (nl), geklingel
• Finnish: kilinä (fi), helinä (fi)

• Russian: звон (ru) m (zvon), звякание (ru) n (zvjakanije), бренчание (ru) n (brenčanije)
• Serbo-Croatian: zvȅkēt (sh) m, zveckanje
• Vietnamese: leng keng (vi) (of small bells), xủng xoảng (of coins)

short tune or verse

• Czech: znělka (cs) f, džingl m
• Finnish: mainossävel, ralli (fi), laulelma, jinkku
• Hebrew: זמריר‎ (he) m

• Portuguese: jingle (pt) m
• Serbo-Croatian: džìngl (sh) m
• Swedish: jingel (sv) c

carriage

• Serbo-Croatian: kočija (sh)

Verb

jingle (third-person singular simple present jingles, present participle jingling, simple past and past participle jingled)

1. To make a noise of metal or glass clattering against itself.

   The beads jingled as she walked.

2. To cause to make a noise of metal or glass clattering against itself.

   She jingled the beads as she walked.

3. (dated) To rhyme or sound with a jingling effect.
   • Macaulay

     jingling street ballads

Translations

to make a noise of metal or glass clattering against itself

• Finnish: kilistä (fi), helistä (fi)
• Hungarian: csilingel (hu)
• Maori: patatō

• Russian: бренча́ть (ru) impf (brenčátʹ), звене́ть (ru) impf (zvenétʹ), дребезжа́ть (ru) impf (drebezžátʹ), звякать (ru) impf (zvjakatʹ)
• Swedish: klinga (sv)

to cause to make a noise of metal or glass clattering against itself

• Finnish: kilistää (fi), helistää (fi)
• Russian: звя́кать (ru) impf (zvjákatʹ), звони́ть (ru) impf (zvonítʹ), бря́цать (ru) impf (brjácatʹ)

• Swedish: klinga med

Derived terms

• jingle bell

Related terms

• jangle

See also

• clink
• rattle

---

French

Etymology

From English jingle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒiŋɡl/

Noun

jingle m (plural jingles)

1. jingle (tune)

   C'est l'heure d'envoyer le jingle.

Further reading

• “jingle” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

---

Spanish

Noun

jingle m (plural jingles)

1. jingle