English Explanatory Dictionary

screech

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A high-pitched strident or piercing sound, such as that between a moving object and any surface.
  2. A harsh, shrill cry, as of one in acute pain or in fright; a shriek; a scream.
  3. Newfoundland rum.
  4. A form of home-made rye whiskey made from used oak rye barrels from a distillery.
verb
  1. To make such a sound.
  2. To travel very fast, as if making the sound of a car that is driving too fast.

Pronunciation

skrēch /skɹiːt͡ʃ/ [skɹiːt͡ʃ] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-screech.wav [skɹit͡ʃ]

Word forms

screech screeches screeching screeched

Etymology

1602; altered with expressive vowel lengthening from earlier skrech (1577), variant of obsolete scritch, from Middle English skriken, shrichen, schrichen (1250), from Old English (attested as scriccettan) and Old Norse skríkja, both from Proto-Germanic *skrīkijaną (compare Icelandic skríkja, Old Saxon scricōn, Danish skrige, Swedish skrika), derivative of *skrīhaną (compare Middle Dutch schriën, German schreien, Low German dial. schrien, schriegen), ultimately of imitative origin.

Synonyms

screak

Derived words

screech bird screecher screech hawk screech-in screech martin screech owl screech thrush screech tunnel Cambondo screeching frog screech out
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