- [countable] a short piece of music with words that you sing
- a love/pop/rock song
- We sang a song together.
- the theme song to the hit TV show
- a hit/popular/traditional song
- to write/record/perform/play a song
- to listen to/hear a song
- She taught us the words of a French song.
- What's your favourite song from the show?
- the best song on the album
- songs about love
- a song of praise/love
- song by somebody a collection of songs by various artists
Collocations MusicMusicListeningsee also folk song, sing-song, swansong, torch song- listen to/enjoy/love/be into music/classical music/jazz/pop/hip-hop, etc.
- listen to the radio/an MP3 player/a CD
- put on/play a CD/a song/some music
- turn down/up the music/radio/volume/bass
- go to a concert/festival/gig/performance/recital
- copy/burn/rip music/a CD/a DVD
- download/stream music/an album/a song/a video/a playlist
- play a musical instrument/the piano/percussion/a note/a riff/the melody/a concerto/a duet/by ear
- sing an anthem/a ballad/a solo/an aria/the blues/in a choir/soprano/alto/tenor/bass/out of tune
- hum a tune/a theme tune/a lullaby
- accompany a singer/choir
- strum a chord/guitar
- form/start/get together/join/quit/leave a band
- give a performance/concert/recital
- do a concert/recital/gig
- play a concert/gig/festival/venue
- perform (British English) at/in a concert/(especially North American English) a concert
- appear at a festival/live
- go on/embark on a (world) tour
- write/compose music/a ballad/a melody/a tune/a song/a theme song/an opera/a symphony
- land/get/sign a record deal
- be signed to/be dropped by a record company
- record/release/put out an album/a single/a CD
- be top of/top the charts
- get to/go straight to/go straight in at/enter the charts at number one
Extra ExamplesTopics Musica1- A rap song came on the radio.
- After a few drinks, they were all singing bawdy songs at the top of their voices.
- He had a string of hit songs in the 1970s.
- He released an album of cover songs.
- How does the song go?
- I downloaded a song from the internet.
- She closed the concert by singing her signature song.
- The band were still playing slow songs.
- a Hungarian folk song
- a protest song written in the sixties
- the theme song from ‘The Godfather’
- the title song from the Beatles' album ‘Help!’
- an old song she'd learned from her mother
- a song called 'If I Only Had Time'
- They sang him his favourite song.
- an orchestral version of the song
- The album contains five original songs and six covers.
- song titles/lyrics
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- beautiful
- good
- great
- …
- compose
- write
- do
- …
- come on
- play
- go
- …
- lyric
- lyrics
- title
- …
- in (a/the) song
- song about
- the same old song
- [uncountable] songs in general; music for singing
- The story is told through song and dance.
- Suddenly he burst into song (= started to sing).
- I hate it when characters break into song (= start to sing) for no apparent reason.
- in song Their voices were raised in song.
- Important historical events were commemorated in song.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + song- break into
- burst into
- in song
- [uncountable, countable] the musical sounds that birds make
- the song of the blackbird
Word OriginOld English sang, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zang and German Sang, also to sing.
Idioms
See song in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee song in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishfor a song
- (informal) very cheaply; at a low price
- She bought the painting for a song.
- The property is going for a song because they need to sell it fast.
on song
- (informal) working or performing well
- The whole team was on song.
sing from the same hymn/song sheet
- (British English, informal) to show that you are in agreement with each other by saying the same things in publicTopics Opinion and argumentc2
a song and dance (about something)
- (British English, informal, disapproving) if you make a song and dance about something, you complain or talk about it too much when this is not necessary
- She gives generously to charity without making a song and dance about it.
- [countable] (North American English, informal) a long explanation about something, or excuse for something
Check pronunciation:
song