screeching

[skree-ching]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR screeching ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

causing or uttering screeches: screeching bats.

characteristic of screeches; harshly shrill: a screeching tone.

noun

the act or sound of a person or thing that screeches.

Origin of screeching

First recorded in 1610–20; screech + -ing², -ing¹

Related formsscreech·ing·ly, adverb

screech

[skreech]

verb (used without object)

to utter or make a harsh, shrill cry or sound: The child screeched hysterically. The brakes screeched.

verb (used with object)

to utter with a screech: She screeched her warning.

noun

a harsh, shrill cry or sound: an owl's screech; the screech of brakes.

Origin of screech

1550–60; variant of obsolete scritch to scream; akin to screak

Related formsscreech·er, noun

Synonyms for screech

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR screech ON THESAURUS.COM

1. See scream.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for screeching

shout, shriek, yell, howl, squeal, outcry, shrill

Examples from the Web for screeching

Contemporary Examples of screeching

Lindsey Graham can barely get ISIS out of his mouth before blowing his shpadoinkle and screeching "we may all get killed!"
The Fear About Things That Won't Kill Us Is Killing Us
Cliff Schecter
October 25, 2014
In his screeching desperation, it sounds far more like “You can tell her what I wanted to be.”
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial
Ivan Solotaroff
June 28, 2014
The progress Whitmire and the committee was making came to a screeching halt when George W. Bush became governor in 1995.
Prison Reform is Bigger in Texas
Olivia Nuzzi
April 12, 2014
Given a screeching demagogue and an evenhanded, mild-mannered technocrat, people will always be more drawn to the former.
America’s Epidemic of Psychiatric Over-Diagnosis
Jesse Singal
June 21, 2013
But I do know I would not read a guideline or listen to the screeching admonishments from across the political spectrum.
The Writhing, Miserable Reality of Force Feeding at Guantánamo Bay
Kent Sepkowitz
May 2, 2013

Historical Examples of screeching

There was a tremendous snarling and spitting and screeching.
White Fang
Jack London
The one called Gramp was screeching invectives at the grinning bystanders.
Wanderer of Infinity
Harl Vincent
"Bid them make an end of that screeching," she snapped to vent some of her fierce petulance.
The Sea-Hawk
Raphael Sabatini
They said he had caused the fire in some way; be that as it may, he was screeching most horribly.
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
The retreat, I maintained—and I was right—was caused by the screeching of the steam whistle.
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad

British Dictionary definitions for screeching

screech

noun

a shrill, harsh, or high-pitched sound or cry

verb

to utter with or produce a screech

Derived Formsscreecher, noun

Word Origin for screech

C16: variant of earlier scritch, of imitative origin

screech

noun Canadian

(esp in Newfoundland) a dark rum

Word Origin for screech

perhaps special use of screech 1

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

Word Origin and History for screeching

screech

1570s, alteration of scritch (mid-13c., schrichen), possibly of imitative origin (cf. shriek). Related: Screeched; screeching. Screech-owl is attested from 1590s (scritch-owl is from 1520s).

screech

1550s, from screech (v.). Earlier scritch (1510s).