Library / English Dictionary

SCREECH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

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 ("screech" is a kind of...):

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

Derivation:

screech (utter a harsh abrupt scream)

screechy (having or making a high-pitched sound such as that made by a mouse or a rusty hinge)

Sense 2

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 ("screech" is a kind of...):

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

Derivation:

screech (make a high-pitched, screeching noise)

screechy (having or making a high-pitched sound such as that made by a mouse or a rusty hinge)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Utter a harsh abrupt scream

Synonyms:

screak; screech; skreak; skreigh; squawk

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

call; cry; holler; hollo; scream; shout; shout out; squall; yell (utter a sudden loud cry)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

screech (sharp piercing cry)

screecher (someone who communicates vocally in a very loud voice)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a high-pitched, screeching noise

Example:

My car engine makes a whining noise

Synonyms:

creak; screak; screech; skreak; squeak; whine

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

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

make noise; noise; resound (emit a noise)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence examples:

Cars screech in the streets

The streets screech with cars

Derivation:

screech; screeching (a high-pitched noise resembling a human cry)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A screeching of asthmatic springs greeted the weight of his body, but he did not notice them.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Under the efforts of both men the lid began to yield; the nails drew with a quick screeching sound, and the top of the box was thrown back.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Fly, my lady, fly! he screeched, and whizzed past them like bolt from bow; while close behind came lumbering a huge black bear, with red tongue lolling from his mouth, and a broken chain jangling behind him.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The streets were crowded with perils—waggons, carts, automobiles; great, straining horses pulling huge trucks; and monstrous cable and electric cars hooting and clanging through the midst, screeching their insistent menace after the manner of the lynxes he had known in the northern woods.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The Thing in the coffin writhed; and a hideous, blood-curdling screech came from the opened red lips.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

As they passed over the drawbridge, Alleyne marked the gleam of arms in the embrasures to right and left, and they had scarce set foot upon the causeway ere a hoarse blare burst from a bugle, and, with screech of hinge and clank of chain, the ponderous bridge swung up into the air, drawn by unseen hands.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)