SHRIEK

scream, screaming, shriek, shrieking, screech, screeching

(noun) sharp piercing cry; “her screaming attracted the neighbors”

screech, screeching, shriek, shrieking, scream, screaming

(noun) a high-pitched noise resembling a human cry; “he ducked at the screechings of shells”; “he heard the scream of the brakes”

shriek, shrill, pipe up, pipe

(verb) utter a shrill cry

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

shriek (plural shrieks)

A sharp, shrill outcry or scream; a shrill wild cry such as is caused by sudden or extreme terror, pain, or the like.

(UK, slang) An exclamation mark.

Verb

shriek (third-person singular simple present shrieks, present participle shrieking, simple past and past participle (obsolete) shright or shrieked)

(intransitive) 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.

(transitive) To utter sharply and shrilly; to utter in or with a shriek or shrieks.

Anagrams

• Ihrkes, hikers, shrike

Source: Wiktionary


Shriek, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Shrieked; p. pr. & vb. n. Shrieking.] Etym: [OE. shriken, originallythe same word as E. screech. See Screech, and cf. Screak.]

Definition: 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. It was the owl that shrieked. Shak. At this she shrieked aloud; the mournful train Echoed her grief. Dryden.

Shriek, v. t.

Definition: To utter sharply and shrilly; to utter in or with a shriek or shrieks. On top whereof aye dwelt the ghostly owl, Shrieking his baleful note. Spenser. She shrieked his name To the dark woods. Moore.

Shriek, n.

Definition: A sharp, shrill outcry or scream; a shrill wild cry such as is caused by sudden or extreme terror, pain, or the like. Shrieks, clamors, murmurs, fill the frighted town. Dryden. Shriek owl. (Zoöl.) (a) The screech owl. (b) The swift; -- so called from its cry.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

15 April 2025

DOOMED

(adjective) marked by or promising bad fortune; “their business venture was doomed from the start”; “an ill-fated business venture”; “an ill-starred romance”; “the unlucky prisoner was again put in irons”- W.H.Prescott


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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