See Also: shriek(medicine)
shriek(1)(dictionary)
shriek(2)(dictionary)
shriek 1, verb(dictionary)
shriek 2, noun(dictionary)

shriek(1) (iou)



shriek noun. L16.
[from SHRIEK verb.]
A high-pitched piercing cry or utterance, esp. expr. terror, pain, or excitement; a loud high-pitched laugh. L16.
Sian Evans Her voice rose to a shriek. P. Angadi 'Darling!' There was a shriek from Mum as she charged into the hall.
b. A loud high-pitched jarring sound. L16.
E. Birney The sudden shriek of chalk on a blackboard.
c. The high-pitched cry of a bird or animal. M18.
fig. An emphatic exclamation of protest or alarm. M19.
C. Kingsley Biographers..break into virtuous shrieks of 'flattery', 'meanness',..and so forth.
More fully shriek-mark. An exclamation mark. colloq. M19.
Independent Ha!! Ha!!!, as Wolfe..might say, never mean with the shriek-mark.