ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Screech

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /skɹiːt͡ʃ/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Screech is a noun meaning (countable) A high-pitched strident or piercing sound, such as that between a moving object and any surface.

Meaning

(countable) A high-pitched strident or piercing sound, such as that between a moving object and any surface.

More Meanings

  1. (countable) A harsh, shrill cry, as of one in acute pain or in fright; a shriek; a scream.
  2. (Newfoundland, uncountable) Newfoundland rum.
  3. (uncountable) A form of home-made rye whiskey made from used oak rye barrels from a distillery.
  4. To make such a sound.
  5. (intransitive, figuratively) To travel very fast, as if making the sound of a car that is driving too fast.

Example Sentences

They said he had caused the fire in some way; be that as it may, he was screeching most horribly.
That the night owl should screech before the noonday sun, that the bat should wheel around the bad of beauty […]
"Have you not met them?" "No, I have met nothing but three cormorants, which were sitting on a bit of drift-wood screeching."
The tide was out, and we drew up amid the strong bracing smell of seaweed, with gulls screeching, wheeling around, and gliding on the wind.

Word Forms

Synonyms for screech

Depending on context, synonyms include screak, shriek, shrill, scream, squeak, squawk.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include screak, shriek, shrieking, shrill, squawk, screaming.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.