English Explanatory Dictionary

shriek

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A sharp, shrill outcry or scream; a shrill wild cry caused by sudden or extreme terror, pain, or the like.
  2. An exclamation mark.
verb
  1. To utter a loud, sharp, shrill sound or cry, as do some birds and beasts; to scream, as in a sudden fright, in horror or anguish.
  2. To utter sharply and shrilly; to utter in or with a shriek or shrieks.

Pronunciation

/ʃɹiːk/ En-us-shriek.ogg

Word forms

shriek shrieks shreek shrieking shrieked

Etymology

From obsolete shrick (1567), shreke, variants of earlier screak, skricke (before 1500), from Middle English scrycke, from a North Germanic/Scandinavian language (compare Swedish skrika, Danish skrige, Icelandic skríkja), from Proto-Germanic *skrīkijaną, *skrik- (compare English screech). More at screech.

Synonyms

shrill

Derived words

shriek owl ashriek outshriek shrieker shriekery shriekfest shrieking sixties shriekling shrieky
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