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Webster 1913 Edition

Screech

Screech

(skrēch)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Screeched
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Screeching
.]
[Also formerly,
scritch
, OE.
skriken
,
skrichen
,
schriken
, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel.
skrækja
to shriek, to screech,
skrīkja
to titter, Sw.
skrika
to shriek, Dan.
skrige
; also Gael.
sgreach
,
sgreuch
, W.
ysgrechio
, Skr.
kharj
to creak. Cf.
Shriek
,
Verb.
,
Scream
,
Verb.
]
To utter a harsh, shrill cry; to make a sharp outcry, as in terror or acute pain; to scream; to shriek.
“The screech owl, screeching loud.”
Shak.

Screech

,
Noun.
A harsh, shrill cry, as of one in acute pain or in fright; a shriek; a scream.
Screech bird
, or
Screech thrush
(Zool.)
,
the fieldfare; – so called from its harsh cry before rain.
–
Screech rain
.
–
Screech hawk
(Zool.)
,
the European goatsucker; – so called from its note.
[Prov. Eng.]
–
Screech owl
.
(Zool.)
(a)
A small American owl (
Scops asio
), either gray or reddish in color
.
(b)
The European barn owl. The name is applied also to other species.

Webster 1828 Edition

Screech

SCREECH

,
Verb.
I.
[See Screak and Shriek.]
1.
To cry out with a sharp shrill voice; to utter a sudden shrill cry, as in terror or acute pain; to scream; to shriek.
2.
To utter a sharp cry, as an owl; thence called screech-owl.

SCREECH

,
Noun.
1.
A sharp shrill cry uttered in acute pain, or in a sudden fright.
2.
A harsh shrill cry, as of a fowl.

Definition 2024

screech

screech

English

Noun

screech ‎(countable and uncountable, plural screeches)

  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.
    • 1826, Mary Shelley, The Last Man, volume 3, chapter 6
      That the night owl should sreech before the noonday sun, that the bat should wheel around the bad of beauty [...]
  3. (Newfoundlander, uncountable) Newfoundland rum.
  4. A form of home-made rye whiskey made from used oak rye barrels from a distillery.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

screech ‎(third-person singular simple present screeches, present participle screeching, simple past and past participle screeched)

  1. To make such a sound.
    • 2004 April 15, “Morning swoop in hunt for Jodi's killer”, in The Scotsman:
      AS THE residents of the quiet Midlothian housing estate prepared for the day ahead, the early-morning stillness was disturbed by the sound of screeching brakes and slamming doors.
  2. (intransitive, figuratively) to travel very fast, as if making the sounds of brakes being released
    • 2011 December 12, Sid Lowe, “Víctor Valdés epitomises Barcelona's bravery as Real Madrid falter”, in the Guardian:
      You've got to admire their balls. Real Madrid screeched after them: an entire herd, powerful and co-ordinated, salivating and breathing hard, murder in their eyes. So Barcelona moved the ball on, away from them. Forced back, it was played into Víctor Valdés, the goalkeeper, who slotted it to Carles Puyol, who gave it back again.

Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • enPR: skrēch, IPA(key): /skriːtʃ/
    • (UK) IPA(key): [skɹiːtʃ]
    • (US) IPA(key): [skɹitʃ]
  • Rhymes: -iːtʃ

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