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\ ˈshrēk 
, especially Southern ˈsrēk \
, especially Southern ˈsrēk \shrieked; shrieking; shrieks
Definition of shriek
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to utter a sharp shrill sound
2a : to cry out in a high-pitched voice : screech
b : to suggest such a cry (as by vividness of expression)
neon colors shrieked for attention— Calvin Tomkins
1 : to utter with a shriek
shriek an alarm
2 : to express in a manner suggestive of a shriek
shriek
nounDefinition of shriek (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : a shrill usually wild or involuntary cry
2 : a sound resembling a shriek
the shriek of chalk on the blackboard
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Examples of shriek in a Sentence
Verb
The birds were shrieking in the trees.
She shrieked when she saw a mouse. Noun
the shriek of the train's brakes
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Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Terrified onlookers shriek as the bison slows its charge and moves in to inspect its curious company.
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Sunset Magazine, "Park Visitors Keep Trying to Get Close to Bison for Some Reason," 4 Sep. 2020 For us, watching soccer together offers an opportunity not only to shriek and cuss and, very occasionally, dash a fist against a wall, but also to pool our emotions as father and son.
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Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, "All Hail the Return of TV Sports," 17 June 2020 Other highlights show Gaga’s knack for tunes in which incongruous-seeming passages—silky one moment, shrieking the next—fit together deliciously.
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Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Lady Gaga Is Back and Smaller Than Ever," 1 June 2020 Bartholet frets that homeschoolers might grow up not even minding the gendered nature of household labor enough to shriek about it in a letter to Dear Prudence.
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Kyle Smith, National Review, "The Attack on Homeschoolers Is an Attack on American Ideals," 23 Apr. 2020 After all, how many drive-through friendly food items are there that small children, celiacs, and Keto-ascribers can all shriek with delight over?
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Jennifer Gerson, refinery29.com, "The Latest Dunkin’ Donuts Menu Item Is An On-The-Go Bag Of “Snackable Bacon”," 26 Feb. 2020 The students shrieked as thirteen drag queens in full makeup and glittering regalia came bounding into the room.
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Lizzie Widdicombe, The New Yorker, "Can “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Save Us from Donald Trump?," 4 Mar. 2020 Then, things start to go awry, as a green, shrieking light emanates from the ground.
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Sara M Moniuszko, USA TODAY, "Trailer for 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' is here, with Paul Rudd and a 'creepy old farmhouse'," 11 Dec. 2019 Seventy-seven Bravolebrities — both current and former — shared the stage at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom in front of a packed house of more than 2,000 adoring, shrieking fans.
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Tracie Egan Morrissey, EW.com, "New NY Housewives announced, plus more highlights from biggest-ever Watch What Happens Live," 17 Nov. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The calliope offends our ears with a shriek of deafening unharmonious music that confounds our senses.
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Steve West, sun-sentinel.com, "The Confusement Park comes to town | Opinion," 28 Aug. 2020 Heading into the D-Day remembrance weekend this year, only the salty brine coming off the ocean on Omaha Beach hits the nostrils, the shrieks of seagulls pierce the ears and a sense of desolation hangs across the region's country roads.
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Fox News, "On sad anniversary, few to mourn the D-Day dead in Normandy," 5 June 2020 In residential neighborhoods like mine, the shrieks of children playing leak out from apartment verandas onto empty playgrounds.
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Max S. Kim, The New Yorker, "The Street Life of Seoul, Rearranged by Coronavirus," 22 Apr. 2020 That sort of strange rising intonation in the shriek.
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Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, ""No Studio Would Touch It:" The Big Gamble Behind 'Kick-Ass'," 16 Apr. 2020 In 2006 a pair of satellites, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s X-ray Multi-Mission (XMM-Newton, for short), detected that shriek as a faint spot of radiation coming from a far-off corner of the Milky Way.
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Dennis Overbye, New York Times, "Deep in the Cosmic Forest, a Black Hole Goldilocks Might Like," 6 May 2020 The Akrapovič titanium exhaust system saves nine pounds and will resonate the EcoBoost engine's shriek.
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Connor Hoffman, Car and Driver, "2020 Ford GT Has More Power, Louder Exhaust," 6 Feb. 2020 Zabriskie's shriek wraps the pilot on a new level of fear beyond coherence.
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Darren Franich, EW.com, "The 30 best things about the Twin Peaks pilot," 8 Apr. 2020 Bellamy recalls about five seconds of silence before shrieks of joy echoed through his phone.
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Chris Sims, Indianapolis Star, "Ex-Brebeuf standout LeVante Bellamy has message for NFL scouts: 'You better bet on me'," 26 Feb. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shriek.' 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 shriek
shriek
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of shriek
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to make a loud, high-pitched cry
: to say (something) in a loud, high-pitched voice
shriek
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of shriek (Entry 2 of 2)
: a loud, high-pitched cry or sound
See the full definition for shriek in the English Language Learners Dictionary
shriek
verb\ ˈshrēk \
\shrieked; shrieking
Kids Definition of shriek
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to make a loud high-pitched cry
We shrieked with delight.
2 : to say in a loud high-pitched voice
She shrieked my name.
shriek
nounKids Definition of shriek (Entry 2 of 2)
: a loud high-pitched cry or sound
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Time Traveler for shriek
The first known use of shriek was in the 15th century
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