SHRIEK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shriek mean? 

• SHRIEK (noun)
  The noun SHRIEK has 2 senses:

1. sharp piercing cry

2. a high-pitched noise resembling a human cry

  Familiarity information: SHRIEK used as a noun is rare.

• SHRIEK (verb)
  The verb SHRIEK has 1 sense:

1. utter a shrill cry

  Familiarity information: SHRIEK used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHRIEK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sharp piercing cry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

scream; screaming; screech; screeching; shriek; shrieking

Context example:

her screaming attracted the neighbors

Hypernyms ("shriek" is a kind of...):

call; cry; outcry; shout; vociferation; yell (a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition)

Derivation:

shriek (utter a shrill cry)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A high-pitched noise resembling a human cry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

scream; screaming; screech; screeching; shriek; shrieking

Context example:

he heard the scream of the brakes

Hypernyms ("shriek" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Derivation:

shriek (utter a shrill cry)

• SHRIEK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they shriek    ... he / she / it shrieks   
Past simple: shrieked   
Past participle: shrieked   
-ing form: shrieking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Utter a shrill cry

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

pipe; pipe up; shriek; shrill

Hypernyms (to "shriek" is one way to...):

call; cry; holler; hollo; scream; shout; shout out; squall; yell (utter a sudden loud cry)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shriek"):

caterwaul; yowl (utter shrieks, as of cats)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence examples:

The birds shriek in the woods
The woods shriek with many kinds of birds

Derivation:

shriek (sharp piercing cry)

shriek (a high-pitched noise resembling a human cry)

shrieking (sharp piercing cry)

 Context examples 

But as I descended the companion stairs to clear the table I heard him shriek as the first bucket of water struck him.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He turned off the gas, and the springs shrieked under his body.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Men groaned, and clasped their hands; women shrieked, and turned away their faces.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and ill—gentlemen, ostlers, and servant maids—joined in a general shriek of “Fire!”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He fired, and I shrieked in despair. ‘He’s hit!

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I heard Glumdalclitch give a shriek at the moment he was carrying me out.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

One of the best of these I entered, but I had hardly placed my foot within the door before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A shriek of laughter came across the abyss.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

But the floor still shrieked the tragedy, until Hans planed the surface of the stained wood away and with the shavings made a fire in the stove.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)