shriek

English

Etymology

Cognate to Swedish skrika (skrik) and German schreien (Schrei). Both with the same meaning.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃɹiːk/, SAMPA: /Sri:k/
• Rhymes: -iːk

Noun

shriek (plural shrieks)

1. 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?

Translations

a sharp, shrill outcry or scream

Arabic: زَعَقَ (zaʕaqa) Chinese (Simplified): 尖叫声 Chinese (Traditional): 尖叫聲 Dutch: krijsen (nl) Finnish: kirkaisu, rääkäisy French: hurlement (fr) German: Kreischen n. Hebrew: צווחה (he) (tsvaḥa) f.

Hungarian: rikácsol (hu), ordít (hu) Irish: scréach (ga) f. Japanese: 悲鳴 (ja) Korean: 비명 (ko) Persian: جیغ (fa) (jǐq) Russian: пронзительный крик m., визг (ru) m. Spanish: alarido m., chillido (es) m.

Verb

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

1. 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.
2. To utter sharply and shrilly; to utter in or with a shriek or shrieks.

Translations

to utter a loud, sharp, shrill sound or cry

Dutch: krijsen (nl) Finnish: kirkaista (fi), rääkäistä (fi) German: kreischen (de) Latin: strīdō (la)

Persian: جیغ زدن (fa) (jǐq zadan) Russian: визжать (ru) Spanish: chillar (es)

to utter sharply and shrilly

German: kreischen (de)

Persian: جیغ زدن (fa) (jǐq zadan)

Anagrams

• hikers
• shrike