SINGER

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IPA (US):

• SINGER (noun)
  The noun SINGER has 3 senses:

1. a person who sings

2. United States inventor of an improved chain-stitch sewing machine (1811-1875)

3. United States writer (born in Poland) of Yiddish stories and novels (1904-1991)

  Familiarity information: SINGER used as a noun is uncommon.

• SINGER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who sings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

singer; vocaliser; vocalist; vocalizer

Hypernyms ("singer" is a kind of...):

instrumentalist; musician; player (someone who plays a musical instrument (as a profession))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "singer"):

baritone; barytone (a male singer)

alto (a singer whose voice lies in the alto clef)

yodeller (a singer who changes register rapidly (popular is Swiss folk songs))

warbler (a singer; usually a singer who adds embellishments to the song)

voice ((metonymy) a singer)

torch singer (a singer (usually a woman) who specializes in singing torch songs)

thrush (a woman who sings popular songs)

tenor (an adult male with a tenor voice)

soprano (a female singer)

songster (a person who sings)

rock star (a famous singer of rock music)

rapper (someone who performs rap music)

opera star; operatic star (singer of lead role in an opera)

lieder singer (a singer of lieder)

madrigalist (a singer of madrigals)

bass; basso (an adult male singer with the lowest voice)

canary (a female singer)

caroler; caroller (a singer of carols)

castrato (a male singer who was castrated before puberty and retains a soprano or alto voice)

chorister (a singer in a choir)

contralto (a woman singer having a contralto voice)

balladeer; crooner (a singer of popular ballads)

folk singer; jongleur; minstrel; poet-singer; troubadour (a singer of folk songs)

hummer (a singer who produces a tune without opening the lips or forming words)

Instance hyponyms:

Madonna; Madonna Louise Ciccone (United States pop singer and sex symbol during the 1980s (born in 1958))

Bob Marley; Marley; Robert Nesta Marley (Jamaican singer who popularized reggae (1945-1981))

Dean Martin; Dino Paul Crocetti; Martin (United States singer (1917-1995))

Ethel Merman; Merman (United States singer who appeared in several musical comedies (1909-1984))

Orbison; Roy Orbison (United States composer and rockabilly tenor popular in the 1950s (1936-1988))

Edith Giovanna Gassion; Edith Piaf; Little Sparrow; Piaf (French cabaret singer (1915-1963))

Paul Bustill Robeson; Paul Robeson; Robeson (United States bass singer and an outspoken critic of racism and proponent of socialism (1898-1976))

Lillian Russell; Russell (United States entertainer remembered for her roles in comic operas (1861-1922))

Paul Simon; Simon (United States singer and songwriter (born in 1942))

Bessie Smith; Smith (United States blues singer (1894-1937))

Kate Smith; Kathryn Elizabeth Smith; Smith (United States singer noted for her rendition of patriotic songs (1909-1986))

Barbra Joan Streisand; Barbra Streisand; Streisand (United States singer and actress (born in 1942))

Sarah Vaughan; Vaughan (United States jazz singer noted for her complex bebop phrasing and scat singing (1924-1990))

Ethel Waters; Waters (United States actress and singer (1896-1977))

Hank Williams; Hiram King Williams; Hiram Williams; Williams (United States country singer and songwriter (1923-1953))

Tammy Wynette; Tammy Wynetter Pugh; Wynette (United States country singer (1942-1998))

Huddie Leadbetter; Leadbelly; Ledbetter (United States folk singer and composer (1885-1949))

Harry Lauder; Lauder; Sir Harry MacLennan Lauder (Scottish ballad singer and music hall comedian (1870-1950))

B. B. King; King; Riley B King (United States guitar player and singer of the blues (born in 1925))

Janis Joplin; Joplin (United States singer who died of a drug overdose at the height of her popularity (1943-1970))

Al Jolson; Asa Yoelson; Jolson (United States singer (born in Russia) who appeared in the first full-length talking film (1886-1950))

Jackson; Michael Jackson; Michael Joe Jackson (United States singer who began singing with his four brothers and later became a highly successful star during the 1980s (born in 1958))

Jackson; Mahalia Jackson (United States singer who did much to popularize gospel music (1911-1972))

Iglesias; Julio Iglesias (Spanish singer noted for his ballads and love songs (born in 1943))

Horne; Lena Calhoun Horne; Lena Horne (United States singer and actress (born in 1917))

Garland; Judy Garland (United States singer and film actress (1922-1969))

Ella Fitzgerald; Fitzgerald (United States scat singer (1917-1996))

Bob Dylan; Dylan (United States songwriter noted for his protest songs (born in 1941))

Dietrich; Maria Magdalene von Losch; Marlene Dietrich (United States film actress (born in Germany) who made many films with Josef von Sternberg and later was a successful cabaret star (1901-1992))

Chevalier; Maurice Chevalier (French actor and cabaret singer (1888-1972))

Cash; John Cash; Johnny Cash (United States country music singer and songwriter (1932-2003))

Bailey; Pearl Bailey; Pearl Mae Bailey (United States singer (1918-1990))

Derivation:

sing (to make melodious sounds)

sing (produce tones with the voice)

sing (deliver by singing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

United States inventor of an improved chain-stitch sewing machine (1811-1875)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Isaac M. Singer; Isaac Merrit Singer; Singer

Instance hypernyms:

artificer; discoverer; inventor (someone who is the first to think of or make something)

manufacturer; producer (someone who manufactures something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

United States writer (born in Poland) of Yiddish stories and novels (1904-1991)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Isaac Bashevis Singer; Singer

Instance hypernyms:

author; writer (writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay))

 Context examples 

It's the last good night there will be, this season; and there's a singer there, whom she really ought to hear.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I remembered his fine voice; I knew he liked to sing—good singers generally do.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The song had stopped as suddenly as it began—broken off, you would have said, in the middle of a note, as though someone had laid his hand upon the singer's mouth.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And so I gazed upon Maud’s light-brown hair, and loved it, and learned more of love than all the poets and singers had taught me with all their songs and sonnets.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Great singers are not great actors.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They had always done this from the time they could lisp... and it had become a household custom, for the mother was a born singer.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The patients were stimulated with instrumental music by pop singers Adele and Enya.

(Music believed to boost hypertension treatment, Agência Brasil/EBC)

The patients were stimulated with instrumental music by pop singers Adele and Enya.

(Music believed to boost hypertension treatment, Agenciabrasil/EBC)

Oh, said the ass, by all means go with us to the great city; you are a good night singer, and may make your fortune as a musician.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

He assumed a mock extravagance, and went on: I am no attic singer, no ballroom warbler. And why? Because I am practical.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)