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screech

(skrēch)

1. A high-pitched, strident cry.

2. A sound suggestive of this cry: the screech of train brakes.

v. screeched, screech·ing, screech·es

v.tr.

To utter in a screech or high-pitched voice.

v.intr.

1. To cry out in a high-pitched, strident voice.

2. To make a sound suggestive of a screech: Tires screeched on the wet pavement.

[Alteration of obsolete scrich, from Middle English scrichen, to screech, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skrækja.]

screecher n.

screechi·ness n.

screechy adj.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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