screed

[ skreed ]

noun

1. a long discourse or essay, especially a diatribe.
2. an informal letter, account, or other piece of writing.
3. Building Trades.
   1. a strip of plaster or wood applied to a surface to be plastered to serve as a guide for making a true surface.
   2. a wooden strip serving as a guide for making a true level surface on a concrete pavement or the like.
   3. a board or metal strip dragged across a freshly poured concrete slab to give it its proper level.
4. British Dialect. a fragment or shred, as of cloth.
5. Scot.
   1. a tear or rip, especially in cloth.
   2. a drinking bout.

verb (used with or without object)

1. Scot. to tear, rip, or shred, as cloth.

screed

/ skriːd /

noun

1. a long or prolonged speech or piece of writing
2. a strip of wood, plaster, or metal placed on a surface to act as a guide to the thickness of the cement or plaster coat to be applied
3. a mixture of cement, sand, and water applied to a concrete slab, etc, to give a smooth surface finish
4. a rent or tear or the sound produced by this

Word History and Origins

Origin of screed¹

1275–1325; Middle English screde torn fragment, irregular (with sc- for sh- ) representing Old English scrēade shred

Word History and Origins

Origin of screed¹

C14: probably variant of Old English scrēade shred

Example Sentences

A 2005 screed alleging the link, published jointly by Rolling Stone and Salon.com, was so stuffed with falsehoods that it was retracted by both publications.

From Los Angeles Times

When Trump reads Stephen Miller's screeds on the stump about immigrants "poisoning the blood," there is no distinction between legal and illegal.

From Salon

It’s a screed against the worst kind of rich, those who fetishize the working class to pander to them.

From Los Angeles Times

This has not stopped them from continuing to spread their racist screeds and rumors.

From Salon

Even in the present day, a Southern apologist for slavery has written a screed for something called the Abbeville Foundation extolling Maistre’s hatred of republics.

From Salon

Related Words

• account
• agenda
• archive
• ballot
• bill
• calendar
• catalog
• checklist
• dictionary
• directory
• draft
• file
• index
• inventory
• lineup
• listing
• menu
• poll
• program
• schedule