screech

[ skreech ]

verb (used without object)

1. to utter or make a harsh, shrill cry or sound:

   The child screeched hysterically. The brakes screeched.

verb (used with object)

1. to utter with a screech:

   She screeched her warning.

noun

1. a harsh, shrill cry or sound:

   an owl's screech; the screech of brakes.

screech

¹

/ skriːtʃ /

noun

1. (esp in Newfoundland) a dark rum

screech

²

/ skriːtʃ /

noun

1. a shrill, harsh, or high-pitched sound or cry

verb

1. to utter with or produce a screech

Derived Forms

• ˈscreecher, noun

Other Words From

• screecher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of screech¹

First recorded in 1550–60; variant of obsolete scritch “to scream”; akin to screak

Word History and Origins

Origin of screech¹

perhaps special use of screech ¹

Origin of screech²

C16: variant of earlier scritch , of imitative origin

Synonym Study

See scream.

Example Sentences

Yet within minutes the street's peace and quiet was shattered by the screech of glass cutters, the baying of startled dogs, then shouts of "police."

From BBC

An estimated 25 bird species, including ladder-backed woodpeckers, loggerhead shrikes and western screech owls, nest in their trunks and branches.

From Los Angeles Times

Soon, neighbors arrived in horse-drawn teams, their steel wheels screeching on the gravel.

From New York Times

The models revealed a unique internal construction of two opposing sound chambers that create physical air turbulence as the source of the screeching sound.

From Science Daily

On Monday afternoon, however, the adrenaline thrill came to a screeching halt when the Sol Spin stopped mid-motion, leaving riders suspended at multiple different angles.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• howl
• shout
• shriek
• squeal
• yell