Library / English Dictionary

SCREAM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A joke that seems extremely funny

Synonyms:

belly laugh; howler; riot; scream; sidesplitter; thigh-slapper; wow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("scream" is a kind of...):

gag; jape; jest; joke; laugh (a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sharp piercing cry

Example:

her screaming attracted the neighbors

Synonyms:

scream; screaming; screech; screeching; shriek; shrieking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("scream" is a kind of...):

call; cry; outcry; shout; vociferation; yell (a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition)

Derivation:

scream (utter a sudden loud cry)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A high-pitched noise resembling a human cry

Example:

he heard the scream of the brakes

Synonyms:

scream; screaming; screech; screeching; shriek; shrieking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("scream" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Derivation:

scream (make a loud, piercing sound)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Utter or declare in a very loud voice

Example:

You don't have to yell--I can hear you just fine

Synonyms:

scream; yell

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "scream" is one way to...):

shout (utter in a loud voice; talk in a loud voice (usually denoting characteristic manner of speaking))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

screamer (gooselike aquatic bird of South America having a harsh trumpeting call)

screamer (a sensational newspaper headline)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Utter a sudden loud cry

Example:

I yelled to her from the window but she couldn't hear me

Synonyms:

call; cry; holler; hollo; scream; shout; shout out; squall; yell

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "scream" is one way to...):

emit; let loose; let out; utter (express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words))

Verb group:

call (utter in a loud voice or announce)

call out; cry; cry out; exclaim; outcry; shout (utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "scream"):

hollo (cry hollo)

hurrah (shout 'hurrah!')

halloo (shout 'halloo', as when greeting someone or attracting attention)

whoop (shout, as if with joy or enthusiasm)

pipe; pipe up; shriek; shrill (utter a shrill cry)

howl; roar; ululate; wail; yaup; yawl (emit long loud cries)

screak; screech; skreak; skreigh; squawk (utter a harsh abrupt scream)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue scream

Derivation:

scream (sharp piercing cry)

screamer (gooselike aquatic bird of South America having a harsh trumpeting call)

screaming (sharp piercing cry)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make a loud, piercing sound

Example:

Fighter planes are screaming through the skies

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "scream" is one way to...):

make noise; noise; resound (emit a noise)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

You can hear animals scream in the meadows

The meadows scream with animals

Derivation:

scream; screaming (a high-pitched noise resembling a human cry)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I gave a few halloa, took to my heels, collared my gentleman, and brought him back to where there was already quite a group about the screaming child.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

As to myself, my knees gave way under me, and I found myself on the floor crouching down behind Jim, with a scream frozen in my throat.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There he called his wife, and showed me to her; but she screamed and ran back, as women in England do at the sight of a toad or a spider.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The peasant, reading the soldier's meaning in his fierce eyes and harsh accents dropped upon his knees, screaming loudly for mercy.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mercedes’s scream came to their ears.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

"Miss Jane screamed so loud, ma'am," pleaded Bessie.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There was a single crack of his rifle, and, though we saw nothing, we heard the scream and then the distant thud of the falling body.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I was struggling and screaming when Gennaro entered and attacked him.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"You guys keep out!" he screamed hoarsely.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“Stand by to go about,” the parrot would scream.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)