Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to talk; thus chirp in, to interrupt.

1781		Hicky’s Bengal Gaz. 1-8 Dec. n.p.: Lucy Chinless and Sammy Tallow sat chirp’d and caroused it [...] till three in the Morning.
1827		P. Cunningham New South Wales II 277: Accosting gentlemen [...] whom she saw chirping in the streets to the Paphians.
1883		‘Mark Twain’ Life on the Mississippi (1914) 63: I did not chirp. I only waited to see.
1900		Boy’s Own Paper 15 Dec. 167: Then one of the girls chirped in: ‘He’s only teasing, George’.
1905		‘Hugh McHugh’ You Can Search Me 109: ‘Right!’ chirped Skinski.
1914		‘Lord Ballyrot in Slangland’ in Tacoma Times (WA) 3 Feb. 4: The kid’s teacher chirps he’s eight laps ahead of his textbooks .
1924		C.J. Dennis ‘The Crusaders’ in Chisholm (1951) 82: ‘Dearie, come in,’ she chirps.
1935		J. Conroy World to Win 197: We’ve done it before and you never chirped.
1998		L. Stringer Grand Central Winter (1999) 137: The announcer chirps an introduction.
2001		N. Barlay Hooky Gear 97: Monica’s chirpin away on her mobi.
2016		A. Wheatle Crongton Knights 20: ‘What girl do you chirp to? Not a damn freaking one!’.

2. to inform.

c.1838		G.W.M. Reynolds ‘The House Breaker’s Song’ in Farmer Musa Pedestris (1896) 122: Oh! who would chirp to dishonour his name, / And betray his pals in a nibsome game / To the traps ? – Not I for one!
1866		J. Greenwood Little Ragamuffin 268: We must put him past chirpin’.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 17: Chirp, ‘to peach,’ to inform.
1901		Argus (Melbourne) 20 Sept. 6/4: [If] he works in company he has an anxious time lest some of the stags or snitchers may chirp or cackle, squeak or whiddle, if hush stuff is not forthcoming or, to put it in plainer English, informers may speak unless they are paid for their silence.
1920		F. Packard White Moll 71: Once we’re sure there’s no back-fire anywhere, the Sparrow will chirp his last chirp.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks 21/2: Chirp, to squeal; to tell the police.
1959		Murtagh & Harris Who Live In Shadow (1960) 139: They’ll all chirp. All junkies are potential birds.

3. (US) to sing.

1911		L. Chevalier ‘Getting into Society’ Variety Stage Eng. Plays 🌐 So that’s why we chirp the merry-merry!
1914		E. O’Neill The Movie Man in Ten ‘Lost’ Plays (1995) 200: (He commences to sing) [...] Kill it, kill it, you bone! What’re you chirping about?
1938		Pic (NY) Mar. 7: the cat can really chirp. — that player can sing very well. In this case sharpit’s Louis Prima.
1948		Dan Burley ‘Back Door Stuff’ 20 Nov. [synd. col.] [T]hat Kay Davis sure can chirp.
1951		Green & Laurie Show Biz from Vaude to Video 547: His rich basso proved unconvincing when chirping about the wide open spaces.
1962		P. Crump Burn, Killer, Burn! 145: ‘Chirp, lady, chirp.’ I encouraged the vocalist.

4. (US) to provide information.

1939

R. Chandler Big Sleep 160: Go ahead and chirp.

5. (UK black) to talk glibly and persuasively.

1999		(con. 1979–80) A. Wheatle Brixton Rock (2004) 77: Floyd would chirp his way out of his ‘caught black-handed’ situation.
2006		G. Malkani Londonstani (2007) 20: I didn’t even need to chirps her very long. Couple a jokes, dat’s all.
2008		A. Wheatle Dirty South 29: The so-called brothers go into pubs and chirps fat white chicks.

6. (US campus) to vomit.

1982

W. Safire What’s the Good Word? 304: The ‘eunuch’ drinks a few and ‘chirps’.

7. (S.Afr.) to tease, to taunt, to complain, to be cheeky.

1991		T. Baron in Sun. Times (Johannesburg) 22 Sept. 34: I chirped him that, maybe, I had more right to be tired after going for my first jog in three weeks when all he’d done was win the IBF junior lightweight title [DSAE].
1993		J. Small in Weekend Post 14 Aug. 1: A penalty was given, somebody chirped and the referee advanced the penalty 10m towards our goalline [DSAE].
1994		J. Dewes in East Province Herald 25 Mar. n.p.: Law student B W- ‘chirped’ (taunted) two policemen [...] minutes before he was arrested for being drunk in public [...] ‘I was arrested because I chirped them’ [DSAE].
2014		C. Eble (ed.) UNC-CH Campus Sl. Spring 2014 3: CHIRP — verbally berate or antagonize: ‘The jerk by the bar is chirping at every guy walking by him because he wants to fight someone’.