Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To give forth a loud shrill cry or sound.
- v. Slang To turn informer; betray an accomplice or secret.
- v. To utter or produce with a squeal.
- n. A loud, shrill cry or sound: a squeal of surprise; the squeal of tires.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To utter a sharp, shrill cry, or a succession of such cries, as expressive of pain, fear, anger, impatience, eagerness, or the like.
- To turn informer; peach; “squeak.”
- n. A shrill, sharp cry, more or less prolonged.
- Infirm; weak.
Wiktionary
- n. A high-pitched sound, as a scream of a child, or noisy worn-down brake pads.
- v. To scream by making a shrill, prolonged sound.
- v. To give sensitive information about someone to a third party; to rat on someone.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To cry with a sharp, shrill, prolonged sound, as certain animals do, indicating want, displeasure, or pain.
- v. Slang To turn informer; to betray a secret.
- n. A shrill, sharp, somewhat prolonged cry.
WordNet 3.0
- v. utter a high-pitched cry, characteristic of pigs
- n. a high-pitched howl
- v. confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
Etymologies
- Middle English squelen, probably of imitative origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The old saying that you can eat every part of the pig but the squeal is especially true in Mexican cuisine.”
“The fanboy squeal is high and screechy, like rusty nailtips raked across a blackboard, but it always says the same thing.”
“There came a sort of squeal from the corner of the room.”
“But I'm not going to 'squeal' -- isn't that what they call it when you rail at Fortune because you've, lost the game?”
“At the sight of the packages Philonecron let out what can only be called a squeal—as if he were a young girl on Christmas morning rushing to the tree to find a golden-haired puppy while a hush of snow fell over the world.”
“From the engineering section came a high-pitched cry, too pure to be called a squeal, that twittered down into a long happy chatter of noise.”
“It couldn't be called a squeal, nor a grunt, nor a gurgle, nor a gasp.”
“Klingenspiel was about to answer, when the whole air was filled with what one would have called a squeal if it had been one fiftieth part so loud, and over a row of willow bushes across the road leapt an astounding great creature, twice as large as the largest elephant, and”
“There seems, indeed, some degree of instinctive knowledge in puppies and kittens, that they must not use their sharp little teeth or claws too freely in their play, though this sometimes happens and a squeal is the result; otherwise they would often injure each other's eyes.”
“Only her squeal was the same when, as of yore, she flopped a glistening chub on the bank, and another and another.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘squeal’.
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Of Imitative Origin
Words formed in imitation of the sound of the things they signify.
bawl, biff, blizzard, blob, blooper, bob, boff, bomb, bonkers, boo, borborygmus, brouhaha and 148 more...
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Talk Talk
Words for Talking
( open list, randomness )squawk, gab, chatter, chitchat, blab, prattle, blather, discuss, hector, plead, cajole, harangue and 200 more...
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SMILE and other emotive verbs
Single verbs that describe expression or emotional reaction. "He __ed" (smiled/gulped/scoffed...)
smile, beam, sneer, scoff, giggle, laugh, snigger, scowl, grin, leer, wince, grimace and 97 more...
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henryar's list
marmoleum, menagerie, cyan, ochre, pilfer, discombobulate, loquacious, iridescent, amethyst, derelict, botulism, equilibrium and 240 more...
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Sounds
words that describe sound
atchoo, atishoo, babble, bam, bay, beep, blast, blather, bleat, bleep, blip, bong and 242 more...
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El perro hace guau guau
Animal sounds in different languages, and the verbs that specify them.
Since Georgetown took down their page, the current definitive website for this information is:
Abbott ani...øf-øf, knor knor, groin groin, grunz, röf-röf, boo boo, hrgu hrgu, nöff-nöff, oink-oink, zumbar, ulular, rebuznar and 154 more...
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Squiddy
Squiddishiousness
squid, squidwarts, squarf, squiddity, squiddiddition, the id of the squid, squisk, squeep, squiddiddiddity, squiddie, squiddishious, squidnunc and 168 more...
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sound (loud)
words for loud sounds
( open list, descriptive, randomness )
also see:
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/onomatopo...crash, thud, bump, thump, boom, smash, explode, roar, scream, screech, short, yell and 168 more...
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I am : talking
"These are talking words," I announce. "You mean verbs that can be used for dialogue?" you ask. "That's right!" I agree.
say, speak, ask, declare, query, shout, yell, scream, shriek, squeal, squeak, screech and 81 more...
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essbunny@gmail.com's list
Intrigued by these words...
sphincter, blush, flume, shingle, spurt, pulp, precious, squeal, zest, zeal, cherish, fervor and 35 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
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kalidas's Words
crepuscular, mellifluous, ephemeral, diaphanous, zeitgeist, geisterfahrer, infinite, eternal, idyllic, azure, reminiscent, oblivion and 521 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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Squ-
All those fun words that begin with squ-. Be careful; this list is hard to read without some serious eye-crossage.
squid, squab, square, squeegee, squirt, squire, squib, squelch, squabble, squad, squally, squalled and 228 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Kayo's list 2
Level 4 vocabulary
laugh, appropriciate, mole, squeal, escape, hassle, moody, description, weave
Tweets
Looking for tweets for squeal.

abigail I think of a pig when I read this. Mar 29, 2010
kayo high pitch crying May 15, 2009
reesetee Squid wheel. Mar 14, 2008