earsplitting

[ eer-split-ing ]
See synonyms for earsplitting on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. ear-piercing: an earsplitting explosion.

Origin of earsplitting

1
First recorded in 1880–85; ear1 + splitting

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use earsplitting in a sentence

  • A dull boom floated up on the breeze, but was drowned in an ear-splitting crash somewhere close to me.

    The Invasion | William Le Queux
  • These were the cries that rent the air from a thousand throats, an ear-splitting accompaniment to the surging storm of humanity.

    Serapis, Complete | Georg Ebers
  • All were hard at work, their gunners working like men possessed, and the crash of their constant discharge was ear-splitting.

    The Invasion | William Le Queux

British Dictionary definitions for ear-splitting

ear-splitting

adjective
  1. so loud or shrill as to hurt the ears

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012