Hypertext Webster Gateway: "screeching"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Screech \Screech\ (skr[=e]ch), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Screeched};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Screeching}.] [Also formerly, scritch, OE.
skriken, skrichen, schriken, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel.
skr[ae]kja to shriek, to screech, skr[imac]kja to titter, Sw.
skrika to shriek, Dan. skrige; also Gael. sgreach, sgreuch,
W. ysgrechio, Skr. kharj to creak. Cf. {Shriek}, v.,
{Scream}, v.]
To utter a harsh, shrill cry; to make a sharp outcry, as in
terror or acute pain; to scream; to shriek. ``The screech
owl, screeching loud.'' --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
screeching
adj : loud and sustained; shrill and piercing; "hordes of
screaming fans"; "a screaming jet plane"; "a screaming
fury of sound"; "a screeching parrot"; "screeching
brakes"; "a horde of shrieking fans"; "shrieking winds"
[syn: {screaming(a)}, {screeching(a)}, {shrieking(a)}]
n 1: a high-pitched noise resembling a human cry; "he ducked at
the screechings of shells"; "he heard the scream of the
brakes" [syn: {screech}, {shriek}, {shrieking}, {scream},
{screaming}]
2: sharp piercing cry; "her screaming attracted the neighbors"
[syn: {scream}, {screaming}, {shriek}, {shrieking}, {screech}]
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