shriek

[shreek] /ʃrik/
noun
1.
a loud, sharp, shrill cry.
2.
a loud, high sound of laughter.
3.
any loud, shrill sound, as of a whistle.
verb (used without object)
4.
to utter a loud, sharp, shrill cry, as birds.
5.
to cry out sharply in a high voice:
to shriek with pain.
6.
to utter loud, high-pitched sounds in laughing.
7.
(of a musical instrument, a whistle, the wind, etc.) to give forth a loud, shrill sound.
verb (used with object)
8.
to utter in a shriek:
to shriek defiance.
Origin
1560-70; earlier shrick, N variant of shritch (now dial.), Middle English schrichen, back formation from Old English scriccettan; akin to shrike
Related forms
shrieker, noun
shriekingly, adverb
shrieky, adjective
outshriek, verb (used with object)
Synonyms
1, 5. scream, screech. 5. See scream.
Examples from the web for shriek
  • It was a high pitched shriek that spread over the rooftops.
  • There was no shriek left in her voice and the bounce in her step had changed to a long walk to the locker room.
  • She let out a shriek and bolted for my store, tipping over the stroller as she bolted.
  • Perhaps the shriek of a dying animal enticed the dinosaur into the trap.
  • And don't be surprised if you hear an otherworldly shriek.
  • Too much horrified to speak they can only shriek, shriek.
  • Spotted deer glide through the filtered shade, stopping abruptly when a troop of macaques shriek an alarm call.
  • It's naive to shriek about one and turn away from the other.
  • The engine's low bellow builds to a shriek as the next turn approaches.
  • Any urgent plea is one more deaf shriek that echoes too bleakly to be heard.
British Dictionary definitions for shriek

shriek

/ʃriːk/
noun
1.
a shrill and piercing cry
verb
2.
to produce or utter (words, sounds, etc) in a shrill piercing tone
Derived Forms
shrieker, noun
Word Origin
C16: probably from Old Norse skrækja to screech1
Word Origin and History for shriek
v.

16c. variant of scrycke (c.1200), from Old Norse skrækja "to screech" (see screech), probably of imitative origin. Related: Shrieked; shrieking. The noun is attested from 1580s, from the verb.

Slang definitions & phrases for shriek

shriek

noun
  1. An exclamation point; bang, shout (1864+ Print shop)
  2. istilled and concentrated heroin; black tar (mid-1980s+)

shriek in Technology


exclamation mark