1
: a high shrill piercing cry usually expressing pain or terror
2
: a sound resembling a screech
screeched; screeching; screeches
1
: to utter a high shrill piercing cry : make an outcry usually in terror or pain
2
: to make a shrill high-pitched sound resembling a screech
also
: to move with such a sound
the car screeched to a stop
: to utter with or as if with a screech
screecher
noun
Examples of screech in a Sentence
Noun
With a loud screech, she smashed the plate against the wall.
Verb
I screeched when I saw the mouse.
He kept screeching at the children to pay attention.
“You can't do this to me!” she screeched.
Recent Examples on the Web
EW.com, 19 May 2025
The constant clang of metal and the screech of drills suggest the sort of work underway at a warehouse-turned-workshop in this Ukrainian city about 300 kilometers (180 miles) east of Kyiv.
—Dominique Soguel, Christian Science Monitor, 17 June 2025
Calmatters, Mercury News, 20 June 2025
The crashes depicted in the movie are unnervingly realistic, multisensory symphonies of screeching tires and seemingly unquenchable flames.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 17 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for screech
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Noun
The screech of an infected is the first sign of trouble.
—EW.com, 19 May 2025
The constant clang of metal and the screech of drills suggest the sort of work underway at a warehouse-turned-workshop in this Ukrainian city about 300 kilometers (180 miles) east of Kyiv.
—Dominique Soguel, Christian Science Monitor, 17 June 2025
Verb
But in the past week, that’s all come to a screeching halt.
—Calmatters, Mercury News, 20 June 2025
The crashes depicted in the movie are unnervingly realistic, multisensory symphonies of screeching tires and seemingly unquenchable flames.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 17 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for screech
Cite this Entry
“Screech.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/screech. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
screech
1 of 2 noun1
: a shrill harsh cry usually expressing pain or terror
2
: a sound like a screech
the screech of brakes
screech
2 of 2 verb1
: to cry out usually in terror or pain
2
: to make a sound like a screech
the car screeched to a halt
screecher
noun
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