shriek
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English scrycke, probably from Old Norse skrækja, itself probably of imitative origin. Cognate to Swedish skrika (skrik), German schreien (Schrei), both with the same meaning, and Albanian grykë (“throat”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
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.
- 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5
- Sabor, the lioness, was a wise hunter. To one less wise the wild alarm of her fierce cry as she sprang would have seemed a foolish thing, for could she not more surely have fallen upon her victims had she but quietly leaped without that loud shriek?
- 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5
Translations [edit]
a sharp, shrill outcry or scream
Verb [edit]
shriek (third-person singular simple present shrieks, present participle shrieking, simple past and past participle shrieked or shright (obsolete))
- 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.
- To utter sharply and shrilly; to utter in or with a shriek or shrieks.
- Spenser
- The ghostly owl, shrieking his baleful note.
- Moore
- She shrieked his name to the dark woods.
- Spenser
Translations [edit]
to utter a loud, sharp, shrill sound or cry
