A lilt is a gentle, rhythmic rise and fall in the way someone speaks or in how music sounds. When someone has a lilt in their voice, their words seem to bounce along pleasantly, going up and down like a small boat riding gentle waves. You might notice a lilt in how someone from Ireland or Scotland speaks, or in how your grandmother's voice sounds when she's telling a happy story.

Music can have a lilt too. A waltz has a distinctive lilting quality because of its smooth, swaying rhythm. Folk songs and lullabies often lilt along, making them feel cheerful or soothing. The word captures that sense of movement and melody, whether in speech or song.

Lilt works as a verb too. When birds lilt through the air, they seem to move with a bouncy, musical quality. When someone's voice lilts upward at the end of a sentence, it rises gently, often showing curiosity or friendliness. The word itself sounds like what it means: light, melodic, and pleasant, like the pattern it describes.