shriek
nounEtymology
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.
- inherited from *skrīkijaną✻
- inherited from scrycke
Definitions
A sharp, shrill outcry or scream
A sharp, shrill outcry or scream; a shrill wild cry caused by sudden or extreme terror, pain, or the like.
- Shrieks, clamours, murmurs, fill the frighted town.
An exclamation mark.
To utter a loud, sharp, shrill sound or cry, as do some birds and beasts
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.
- Feebly ſhe ſhriekt, but ſo feebly indeed / That Britomart heard not the ſhrilling ſound.
- It was the owl that shrieked.
- At this she shriek'd aloud; the mournful train / Echoed her grief.
›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer
To utter sharply and shrilly
To utter sharply and shrilly; to utter in or with a shriek or shrieks.
- The ghostly owl, shrieking his baleful note.
- She shrieked his name to the dark woods.
The neighborhood
- synonymshrill
Derived
shriek owl, ashriek, outshriek, shrieker, shriekery, shriekfest, shrieking sixties, shriekling, shrieky
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for shriek. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA