yell

[yel]

verb (used without object)

1. to cry out or speak with a strong, loud, clear sound; shout.

   He always yells when he is angry.

2. to scream with pain, fright, etc.

verb (used with object)

1. to utter or tell by yelling.

   to yell an order to the troops.

noun

1. a cry uttered by yelling.

2. a cheer or shout of fixed words or syllables, as one adopted by a school or college to encourage a team.

yell

/ jɛl /

verb

1. to shout, scream, cheer, or utter in a loud or piercing way

noun

1. a loud piercing inarticulate cry, as of pain, anger, or fear

2. a rhythmic cry of words or syllables, used in cheering in unison

Other Word Forms

• yeller noun
• outyell verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of yell¹

First recorded before 1000; (for the verb) Middle English yellen, Old English gellan, giellan; cognate with German gellen to resound, Dutch gillen; akin to Old English galan “to sing” ( nightingale ); noun derivative of the verb

Word History and Origins

Origin of yell¹

Old English giellan; related to Old Saxon gellon, Old High German gellan, Old Norse gjalla; see _nightingale

Example Sentences

Someone yelled “Cut!” and I must have looked panicked.

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Two other women showed up around the same time, with wigs, and yelled curses at the ICE officials and National Guard troops on the other side of the new chain-link fence surrounding the facility.

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“I was in the bathroom, and the phone rang, and they yelled my name. I was like, ‘All right, here we go,’” Glasnow said afterward.

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Skate dads in L.A. will yell unintelligibly at you as they whoosh by, and when you don’t respond they’ll spend the rest of the session snaking you at every turn.

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A woman yelled, “How about we trade cars?”

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Related Words

• hoot 
• howl 
• screech 
• shriek 
• squawk 
• squeal 
• wail 
• whoop 
• yelp