squeal
Americannoun
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a somewhat prolonged, sharp, shrill cry, as of pain, fear, or surprise.
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Slang.
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an instance of informing against someone.
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a protest or complaint; beef.
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verb (used without object)
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to utter or emit a squeal or squealing sound.
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Slang.
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to turn informer; inform.
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to protest or complain; beef.
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verb (used with object)
noun
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a high shrill yelp, as of pain
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a screaming sound, as of tyres when a car brakes suddenly
verb
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to utter a squeal or with a squeal
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slang (intr) to confess information about another
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informal (intr) to complain or protest loudly
Other Word Forms
- squealer noun
Etymology
Origin of squeal
1250–1300; Middle English squelen; imitative
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At their most nervous — any time they discover evidence of mankind, even though actual people remain unseen — the sound spirals out into jittery, squealing, inorganic jazz.
From Los Angeles Times
In 2009, a lawyer who lived on Central Park West filed a suit claiming that the intense “whining, barking, yapping and squealing” by her neighbor’s two Chihuahuas was causing agonizing back pain.
From Seattle Times
They landed hard and quick — Bryan was singing with a rugged howl, guitars were churning, the fiddle poked through the top like a squeal.
From New York Times
I tried to keep my cool but couldn’t resist a girlish squeal.
From Los Angeles Times
But instead the concrete loading bays are alive with the sound of squealing tyres and popping engines as cars race past spectators lining a makeshift drag strip.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.