skirling

American  

[skur-ling] / ˈskɜr lɪŋ /

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. the act of shrieking.

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Etymology

Origin of skirling

First recorded in 1775–85; skirl + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Two minutes later John McGinn smashed a shot on to the Chelsea bar from 30 yards, the rebound sending the ball skirling up a similar distance into the London sky.

From The Guardian • Dec. 28, 2020

He turned Ms. Nicks’s “Gold Dust Woman” into a darker incantation before taking a long, skirling, keening solo in his own “I’m So Afraid”; “Tusk” was a cry of despair, not a novelty.

From New York Times • Oct. 7, 2014

Distinct from the lilting singsong of the South, a Northern Irish accent is my favorite in the U.K.: hard, skirling, and sour, with a compulsively upward, interrogative lift at the end of the sentence.

From Newsweek • Jul. 11, 2011

But there is still something magnificent – and magnificently out-of-kilter – about this great skirling tide of productivity.

From The Guardian • Jun. 23, 2010

Jon could hear it skirling against the Wall and over the icy battlements as he went to the common hall for the evening meal.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin