SCREECH • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Screech

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/skritʃ/ Listen

noun

Screech n. A harsh, shrill cry, as of one in acute pain or in fright; a shriek; a scream.

Screech bird, or Screech thrush (Zool.), the fieldfare; so called from its harsh cry before rain.

Screech rain.

Screech hawk (Zool.), the European goatsucker; so called from its note. (Prov. Eng.)

Screech owl. (Zool.)

(a)

A small American owl (Scops asio), either gray or reddish in color.

(b)

The European barn owl. The name is applied also to other species.

verb

Screech v. i. (past & past part. screeched; pres. part. screeching) To utter a harsh, shrill cry; to make a sharp outcry, as in terror or acute pain; to scream; to shriek. "The screech owl, screeching loud."

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Etymology of 'Screech'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Screech" Quotes from Famous Books

... bitterness, it was the choice which Saddletree made of a subject for his prosing harangues, being the trial of Effie Deans, and the probability of her being executed. Every word fell on Butler's ear like the knell of a death-bell, or the note of a screech-owl. ...

— The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott

... foothills was a relief. Thence the road climbed, between low, reddish-grey spurs, to the narrow pass, barred by a formidable gate, that swung open at command, with a screech of rusty hinges, as if ...

— Far to Seek - A Romance of England and India • Maud Diver

... the direction of the highway caused me to stop, and Ian dropped the squirter that I had newly filled for his turn, upon the grass border, while he and Richard scurried toward the gateway to see what was the matter, for the sound was like the screech of an automobile ...

— People of the Whirlpool • Mabel Osgood Wright

... together on the strand, They only, each by each; Home, her home, was close at hand, Utterly out of reach. Her mother in the chimney nook Heard a startled sea-gull screech, But never turned her head to look Towards the darkening beach: Neighbors here and neighbors there Heard one scream, as if a bird Shrilly screaming cleft the air:— That ...

— Poems • Christina G. Rossetti

... alert hangar doors swung up the whining screech of the jet starters, followed by thunder of the engines, filled the airfield. The atmosphere around the Duluth Municipal Airport was closely akin to Santa Anita the instant the starting ...

— The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects • Edward Ruppelt

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