shriek

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But the human note in the wind grew until it was like a shriek, and this shriek was to him a warning that he must go.

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Definitions (15)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. noun A shrill, often frantic cry.
  2. noun A sound suggestive of such a cry.
  3. intransitive verb To utter a shriek.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

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Examples (50)

 

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This word has been looked up 170 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

scream ·  howl ·  screech ·  groan ·  hiss ·  laugh ·  whisper ·  whistle ·  noise ·  rush ·  whine ·  sob

Used in the same contextWord Family

shriek:   shrieking ·  shrieks ·  shrieked
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English skriken, shriken, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skrækja.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also shrike, schryke; from Middle English shriken, shryken, schriken, skriken, scriken (preterit schriked, skriked, skryked, schrykede, also shrighte, shryghte), from Icelandic skrīkja, shriek (found only in sense of ‘titter’) (cf. skrækja, shriek), =Swedish skrika =Danish skrige, shriek; cf. Gaelic sgreach =W. ysgrechio, shriek, scream. The word also appears as shrike, screak, screech, q. v. As with other words denoting sounds, it was regarded as more or less imitative, and suffered variation.
  2. Early modern English also shrike, from Middle English shrike (=Swedish skrik, skri =D)an. skrig); from the verb.
 

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/ʃrik/
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