shrieking

S1H4R1I1E1K5I1N1G2

adjective

That emits shrieks or high-pitched noises.

UncommonScrabble 17

Meanings

verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of shriek
nounshrieking (plural shriekings)

plural shriekings

  1. gerundgerund of shriek: an act of uttering a loud, sharp, or shrill cry or sound; also, a sound that shrieks.

    Soon, 'midst the shriekings of the tossing wind, / The 'dark blue depths' he sang of, shall have bore / Our all of Byron to his native shore!

    1826, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Stanzas on the Death of Lord Byron”, in Charlotte Porter, Helen A[rchibald] Clarke, editors, The Complete Works of Mrs. E. B. Browning, Arno edition, volume I, New York, N.Y.: George D. Sproul, published 1901, →OCLC, page 105
adjectiveshrieking (comparative more shrieking, superlative most shrieking)

comparative more shrieking · superlative most shrieking

  1. That emits shrieks or high-pitched noises.

    Then the old scourge of dusk swooped down upon the warderless hoard. It is he who burns up the sky at night in long trails of yellow flame, who flies above houses in a whirlwind of shrieking wings and gagging smoke.

    1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 40
  2. usuallyOf a sound; voice; Of a sound; voicesharp, loud, and shrill.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounsharp piercing cry

nouna high-pitched noise resembling a human cry

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

shrieking. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrieking

MLA

“shrieking.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrieking. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shrieking,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrieking.

Source: shrieking on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.