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\ ˈskrēch 
\
\Definition of screech
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a high shrill piercing cry usually expressing pain or terror
2 : a sound resembling a screech
screech
verbscreeched; screeching; screeches
Definition of screech (Entry 2 of 2)
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
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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.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun With a toot of its horn and a metallic screech, the Alishan Forest Railway rumbles out of Chiayi, a midsize city in southern Taiwan.
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Chris Schalkx, Condé Nast Traveler, "A Road Trip Through Taiwan's Hot Springs and Tea Plantations," 7 Feb. 2020 Police closed their investigation when the trail went cold, speculating that a loud attic fan or water pump on the fritz might have been to blame for the disappearing screech.
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Erin Blakemore, Popular Science, "Seven mysterious sounds science has yet to solve," 27 Jan. 2020 If heebie-jeebies are screeches and creaks, soft things are a major chord, resonant with well-being, reassurance, forgiveness, and even—what the hay—love.
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Virginia Heffernan, Wired, "The Unbearable Softness of Engineered Fabrics," 21 Jan. 2020 The hiss of the blowtorch and the screech of nearby trains were its soundtrack.
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Dianne Solis, Dallas News, "An artists’ community crops up around Dallas’ unofficial graffiti park, and the neighborhood wants to keep them both," 10 Jan. 2020 The young girl jumped from her chair and gave a long screech before covering her mouth in shock.
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Perry Stein, Washington Post, "‘Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!’ Michelle Obama surprises D.C. elementary school with big gifts.," 11 Dec. 2019 This ivory-white bird will perch at the top of a dead tree, high in the montane forests of northern Brazil, and gape open his mouth to issue a grating, hair-raising screech.
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Liz Langley, National Geographic, "Listen: This could be the loudest bird on Earth," 21 Oct. 2019 The sounds of beastly screeches and splashing water came from the bathroom.
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Ellyn Laub, sun-sentinel.com, "Beware bike attire hazards | Opinion," 21 Nov. 2019 But the early internet created a nostalgia machine, and people are preserving its birth screeches, as in this medley.
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Whet Moser, Quartz, "A series of mysterious bleeps and bloops defined the early days of the internet," 15 Oct. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Tires screeched, and before the chase left the area around Paul Brown Stadium, security personnel said the vehicle being pursued dodged a spike strip intended to halt the vehicle.
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Pat Brennan, Cincinnati.com, "Notebook: Is there help on the way at cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals?," 20 Oct. 2019 Red Death at Songbyrd: What sonic frequencies does a bruising quartet born out of the D.C. hardcore scene look to harness while expanding beyond its screeching instrumental assaults and piercing howls?
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Washington Post, "12 things to do in the D.C. area this weekend," 2 Jan. 2020 There would no doubt be screeching car chases and explosions, a dirty cop, drug deals.
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Peter Hartlaub, SFChronicle.com, "‘Sister Act’ transformed Noe Valley into a den of sin. Here’s the back story," 1 Dec. 2019 The quiet of a dark street in a residential South Florida neighborhood is broken by the ear-piercing sound of screeching tires as the headlights of a spinning car come into view.
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Doug Phillips, sun-sentinel.com, "Video shows a car going fast as it crashes into a mailbox, leaving the residents furious," 21 Nov. 2019 The silence was abruptly broken by the screeching cry of my kettle.
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Mandy Lee, Bon Appétit, "As Protesters March in Hong Kong, I Cook to Escape," 7 Oct. 2019 In June, the Detroit group called TSNLS participated in #SundayFunday and blocked traffic on the Lodge Freeway while a car spun in tight circles in the middle with its tires screeching.
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Bisma Parvez, Detroit Free Press, "Video shows cars blocking traffic, doing donuts on I-94," 23 Dec. 2019 And the girls were screeching, the teachers were groaning.
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Ed Masley, azcentral, "How five friends from Phoenix came to rule the world as Alice Cooper," 12 Dec. 2019 Carnival music jangled as the wide-eyed wooden horsies screeched round and round.
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Wired, "Angry Nerd: Oh My God, Netflix, Please Chill Out!," 19 Nov. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'screech.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for screech
screech
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of screech
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a loud and very high cry that usually expresses extreme pain, anger, or fear
: a loud and very high sound
screech
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of screech (Entry 2 of 2)
: to cry out or shout in a loud and very high voice because of extreme pain, anger, fear, etc.
: to make a loud and very high sound
See the full definition for screech in the English Language Learners Dictionary
screech
verb\ ˈskrēch \
\screeched; screeching
Kids Definition of screech
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to make a high-pitched harsh sound
2 : to utter with a high-pitched harsh sound
3 : to cry out in a loud, high-pitched way (as in terror or pain)
screech
nounKids Definition of screech (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : a high-pitched harsh cry
the screech of an owl
2 : a high-pitched harsh sound
the screech of brakes
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Comments on screech
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Time Traveler for screech
The first known use of screech was in 1560
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