Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A brief sudden violent windstorm, often accompanied by rain or snow.
- noun Informal A brief commotion.
- intransitive verb To blow strongly for a brief period.
- noun A loud, harsh cry.
- intransitive verb To scream or cry loudly and harshly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A sudden and violent gust of wind, or a succession of such gusts, usually accompanied by rain, snow, or sleet. In a ship's log-book abbreviated q.
- noun Synonyms Gale, etc. See
wind . - To blow a squall: used chieflyimpersonally: as, itsqualled terribly.
- noun A baby; pet; minx; girl: used vaguely, in endearment or reproach.
- To cry out; scream or cry violently, as a frightened woman or a child in anger or distress: used in contempt or dislike.
- To utter in a discordant, screaming tone.
- noun A harsh cry; a loud and discordant scream; a sound intermediate in character between a squawk and a squeal.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A sudden and violent gust of wind often attended with rain or snow.
- noun a squall attended with dark, heavy clouds.
- noun a black squall accompanied by rain, hail, sleet, or snow.
- noun a squall which comes unexpectedly, without being marked in its approach by the clouds.
- noun A loud scream; a harsh cry.
- intransitive verb To cry out; to scream or cry violently, as a woman frightened, or a child in anger or distress.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
squall line , multicell line, or part of a squall line. - noun A sudden
storm , as found in a squall line. Often a nautical usage. - verb To
cry orwail loudly.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun sudden violent winds; often accompanied by precipitation
- verb make high-pitched, whiney noises
- verb blow in a squall
- verb utter a sudden loud cry
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Probably of Scandinavian origin.]
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skvala, to squeal.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
The verb is from Old Norse skvala ("to cry out"). The noun is probably from the verb.
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Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
ofravens commented on the word squall
she treks in blood through sun and squall
from "The Queen's Complaint," Sylvia Plath
April 14, 2008