screamn.
/skriːm/, U.S. /skrim/ a. A shrill piercing cry, usually expressive of pain, alarm, or other sudden emotion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > cry or shout (loudness) > cry of emotion or pain > [noun] > scream or shriek
squealingc1325
skriking1340
shrikingc1374
shritchingc1374
skrikea1400
blaringc1440
shritch1470
scritchinga1500
shrikea1500
screak1513
skirl1513
wauling1533
wrawling1533
screamingc1540
scritch1548
skreighc1550
shright1558
screech1560
screaking1565
screeching1589
shriek1590
shrill1591
shirl1598
shrieking1602
screama1616
squalling1677
squall1709
squeal1747
skelloch1808
skreighing1816
skirling1820
sharming1823
shriekery1865
squee1938
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. iii 55 And (as they say) lamentings heard i' th' Ayre; Strange Schreemes of Death.
1713 A. Pope Ode Musick 4 Dreadful Gleams, Dismal Screams.
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 44 Oh, ye who shake hills with the scream of your mirth.
1842 ‘Nimrod’ Life Sportsman ii. 33 His scream, or view-halloo, is, indeed, wonderful.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxxix. 359 She dropped them with a scream of terror.
1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile xix. 563 It was a sharp, sudden scream, following a shot.
b. transferred. Applied to the shrill cry of certain birds and beasts, and to any similar noise.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by noises > voice or sound made by animal > [noun] > shriek
scream1513
swear1895
crawk1915
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > shrill quality > [noun] > shriek, screech, or scream
scritchinga1500
shrikea1500
scream1513
screamingc1540
scrivec1540
shriek1599
screeching1753
skirling1820
screech1821
screel1835
shriekery1865
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. v. 76 And sone the other fowlis heich in the sky Turnit agane, with mony screym [1710 skreyme] and cry, To chais and to assail thar aduersair.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth V. 14 The scream of a peacock.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 13 The eagles answered with their scream.
1849 A. R. Smith Pottleton Legacy xvi. 138 The engine gave a shrill scream.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud iii, in Maud & Other Poems 12 Listening now to the tide.., Now to the scream of a madden'd beach dragg'd down by the wave.
c. A cause of laughter; a very amusing person or situation. colloquial.
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the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [noun] > that which causes or is subject of laughter
laughterOE
laughing game1530
laughing matter1549
laugh1689
scream1888
shriek1930
giggle1936
hoot1942
crack-up1961
laugher1973
1888 Boston Herald 24 Jan. 5/1 It [sc. ‘Bewitched’] is something more than a sketch, and a good deal less than a comedy, and its designation on the bill, ‘farcical scream’, perhaps conveys a good idea of its character.
1906 H. Green At Actors' Boarding House 209 I thought I'd die laughing at his making love..and me with a husband doing his bit back in Auburn. It was a perfect scream, wasn't it, Kate?
1915 Home Chat 9 Oct. 45/2 ‘He's married.’.. ‘It's a fact. His bailiff told our chauffeur... Isn't it a scream?’
1918 War Birds (1927) 150 We left Hounslow about eleven and our take-off was a scream.
1919 G. W. Deeping Second Youth xxv Ain't it a wicked scream my gettin' all that, and Bill out there in the trenches on a bob or so a day.
1919 T. K. Holmes Man from Tall Timber xxiv. 292 That Anabelle Whitman is a perfect scream.
1929 R. C. Sherriff Journey's End iii. ii. 71 Oh, skipper, you are a scream—and no mistake!
1946 E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh i. 73 Listen, it was a scream.
1974 Guardian 30 Jan. 11/1 Like the bearded lady, Lorna has curiosity value... ‘Yes, isn't it a scream?’ she says.
1977 J. Fleming Every Inch a Lady iii. iv. 131 They're good... That Tommy Raffles is a scream!
d. The giving of information or evidence, spec. against one's accomplices in crime. slang.
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society > communication > information > informing on or against > [noun]
wrayingc1000
information1387
promotion?1533
talebearing1571
delation1578
sycophancy1622
peachery1654
blowing the gap1821
nosing1827
peaching1859
rounding1862
squeal1872
scream1915
singing1937
snouting1937
dobbing1968
whistle-blowing1971
1915 E. Wallace Melody of Death vii. 113 ‘Look here, George,..is it a scream?’ ‘A scream?’ Mr. Wallis was puzzled innocence itself. ‘Will you turn King's evidence?’ said the other shortly.
e. An urgent message. slang.
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society > communication > information > message > [noun] > specially dispatched or urgent
express1642
scream1929
1929 ‘Seamark’ Down River i. 21 ‘Smuggling?’ queried the surgeon. ‘That's the line, sir. Had a scream from Headquarters about it only this morning.’
f. Jazz. The sound produced when a high note is played loudly on a wind instrument. Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [noun] > sound of wind instruments > high note
scream1933
screamer1940
1933 Metronome Jan. 34 A scream is produced somewhat the same way as the rip, only in the rip the note is cut off shortly, but in the scream it is held.
1947 L. Tristano in B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1952) xxi. 275 The sustained scream notes.
1962 Charters & Kunstadt Jazz xvi. 200 Each section answering the other in ‘screams’ (chords) was the feature of ‘Tiger Rag’.
Draft additions September 2018
scream queen n. (a) an actress noted for her comedic roles (rare); (b) an actress noted for her roles in horror films.
ΚΠ
1945 East Liverpool (Ohio) Rev. 5 Feb. 3/8 (advt.) That scream-queen of screen and radio... Joan Davis.
1978 C. T. Beck (title) Scream queens: heroines of the horrors.
2014 Radio Times 26 Apr. (South/West ed.) 50/3 The gruesome sequence..still retains its shock value, with scream queen Barbara Shelley's demise just as memorable.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
screamv.
/skriːm/, U.S. /skrim/ 1.
a. intransitive. To utter a shrill piercing cry, normally expressive of pain, alarm, mirth, or other sudden emotion. Also, to produce unpleasantly loud and shrill upper notes in singing. Also with out, away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > cry or shout (loudness) > cry of emotion or pain > [verb (intransitive)] > scream or shriek
screama1200
shrikec1200
shreamc1230
shritcha1250
scritcha1300
squeala1300
skrike1340
skirlc1400
wrawlc1440
sharmc1485
screak?a1500
shrighta1542
shriek1567
screech1577
waul1601
bawl1605
squall1688
skreigh1718
screel1730
skelloch1808
squalino1810
to scream (also cry, yell, etc.) blue murder1828
rescream1858
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > sing [verb (intransitive)] > sing loudly or harshly
screama1200
yella1387
yelp?c1450
outshrilla1876
a1200 Twelfth Cent. Hom. 128 Þær is ece eadiȝnesse; þær eald ne graneð, ne child ne scræmeð.
c1230 Hali Meid. 37 Þat wif..þat ihereð, hwen ha cumeð in, hire bearn screamen [MS. Bodl. schreamen].
c1325 Pol. Songs (1839) 158 Heo biginnith to shryke ant scremeth anon.
c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 9998 A dredful dreme that lady dremed, That In hir sclepe sche cried & scremed.
1483 Cath. Angl. 325/2 To screme.
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 6 Others elder..guided these little ones, and sung, screaming, and squeaking, and straining their voices.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) To Scream or Scream out, to cry out, especially as one that is scar'd or frighted.
1707 tr. M.-C. d'Aulnoy Diverting Wks. 374 She skream'd, she skreek'd [printed ckreek'd].
1775 S. Johnson Taxation no Tyranny 4 These antipatriotic prejudices are the abortions of Folly impregnated by Faction... They are born only to scream and perish.
1782 W. Cowper Mutual Forbearance in Poems 27 Yes, truly—one must scream and bawl—I tell you, you can't hear at all!
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. viii. 140 ‘Nay, scream away if you like it,’ said he, still holding her fast.
1825 J. F. Danneley Encycl. Music To Scream, is to sing in so loud a manner that the tones of the voice cannot be appreciated.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xix. 311 She screamed for help.
b. Of certain birds and beasts: To emit their characteristic shrill cry.
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the world > animals > by noises > voice or sound made by animal > make sound [verb (intransitive)] > shriek
shritcha1250
scritcha1300
screamc1340
shriek1567
screech1577
screak1607
squall1630
sweara1728
stridulate1838
c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 747 Putois garit. Fulmarde scremyth.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 910 A wonderfull noyse [the cry of the dragon] Skremyt vp to the skrow with a skryke ffelle.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. ii. 15 I heard the Owle schreame, and the Crickets cry. View more context for this quotation
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xvii. 529 So flies a Vulture thro' the clam'rous Train Of Geese, that scream, and scatter round the Plain.
1757 T. Gray Ode II i. iii, in Odes 15 The famish'd Eagle screams, and passes by.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xi. 87 A marmot screamed near me.
1894 H. Caine Manxman 415 Under the cliffs, where the sea-birds scream.
c. Of an inanimate thing: To make a noise like a scream; spec. to travel swiftly with a screaming noise; also hyperbolically and transferred, of a person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > shrill quality > sound shrill [verb (intransitive)] > shriek, screech, or scream
shrikec1200
scritcha1300
screech1577
scream1785
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move swiftly with or as with sound
thunderc1374
hurtle1509
rattle1555
skirr1567
whizz1591
brustle1638
clatter1810
whoosh1856
fizz1864
zoon1880
zing1899
skoosh1904
zoom1924
scream1943
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > shrill quality > sound shrill [verb (intransitive)] > shriek, screech, or scream > proceed with
scream1943
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 478 The fiddle screams Plaintive and piteous.
1792 ‘P. Pindar’ Tears of St. Margaret (new ed.) 9 Wild screams the trumpet's brazen note so clear.
1827 W. Scott Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. I. iv. 56 There it [the sign of an inn] hung, creaking, groaning, and screaming in every blast of wind.
1882 F. W. H. Myers Renewal of Youth 138 Winds that screamed and storms that fled.
1886 J. S. Corbett Fall of Asgard II. 159 The ships screamed and groaned,..as they ground together.
1943 J. L. Hunt & A. G. Pringle Service Slang 57 Screaming downhill, making a power dive in a fighter aircraft.
1954 Amer. Speech 29 101 ‘It screams!’; i.e., it really moves.
1957 P. Moore Sci. & Fiction 60 Airmen screaming towards the ground in a steep dive.
1975 E. Hillary Nothing venture, Nothing Win x. 155 We had discussed the..likelihood of no one getting to the South Col the next day and finally decided that Tenzing and I should scream up as a booster party to make sure that the Sherpas got there.
1976 Wymondham & Attleborough Express 10 Dec. 24/4 Alan Green..unleashed a full-blooded volley from just inside the area that screamed into the top of the net.
1976 A. White Long Silence vii. 53 One of the fighters [sc. planes] screamed down to take a closer look.
1981 Economist 24 Jan. 97/2 A tenth of a second is about as long as a star falling into a black hole would be expected to ‘scream’.
d. quasi-transitive with adverb complement or phr.
ΚΠ
1801 W. Scott Let. 10 May (1932) I. 114 Bugles indeed we have; but it is only to scream us out of bed at five in the morning.
1862 F. W. Robinson Owen iv. ix If he stayed there by her side, she would scream the house down in a minute more.
e. To turn informer; to give evidence against one's accomplices. slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > informing on or against > inform on or against [verb (intransitive)]
inform1588
peach1598
whistle1599
sing1612
whiddlec1661
squeak1690
wheedle1710
whittle1735
to blow the gab1785
snitch1801
rat1810
nose1811
sing1816
gnarl1819
split1819
stag1839
clype1843
squeal1846
blow1848
to round on1857
nark1859
pimp1865
squawk1872
ruck1884
to come or turn copper1891
copper1897
sneak1897
cough1901
stool1911
tattle-tale1918
snout1923
talk1924
fink1925
scream1925
sarbut1928
grass1929
to turn over1967
dime1970
1925 E. Wallace Melody of Death vii. 114 ‘I don't want to hear any more about your conscience,’ said the officer wearily. ‘Do you scream or don't you?’ ‘I don't scream,’ said Mr. Wallis emphatically.
1967 J. Morgan Involved 114 He never got paid..and my information is he's ready to scream.
2. figurative.
a. To express oneself angrily, excitedly, etc., in speech or writing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > show anger [verb (intransitive)] > speak angrily
spitc1386
ragea1400
blowc1475
blustera1494
storm?1553
pelt1594
tear1602
fare1603
to speak or look daggers1603
to blow hot coalsc1626
rant1647
scream1775
to pop off1914
to carry on1947
1775 [see sense 1a].
1880 G. A. Simcox in Macmillan's Mag. XLI. 401 The Bishop of Exeter ‘screamed’ at the idea of having to listen to the same speaker for two months.
1883 Brit. Q. Rev. Oct. 445 ‘The Times’—..it screamed, it bullied, it worked itself up into a perfect whirlwind of wrath.
1890 Spectator 7 June We receive quite as many communications screaming at us for ‘insufferable complaisance’ towards Mr. Gladstone.
b. To cry out for.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > [verb (transitive)] > demand or call out for (some action)
challenge1577
to cry for ——1581
claima1616
crya1616
scream1906
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands viii. 95 Ther job's simply screamin' fer a statesman iv your sort.
1930 ‘Sapper’ Finger of Fate 147 With every nerve in his body screaming for the stuff [sc. whisky].
1978 R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xi. 131 She did not walk; she glided—an extraordinary body screaming for observation as a prelude to invasion and satisfaction.
c. To communicate (something) strongly.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > [verb (transitive)] > strongly
scream1957
1957 W. Camp Prospects of Love ii. iii There must be something about her..which screams that she's beddable. A girl doesn't have to be pretty to be sexy.
d. to scream on (someone), to insult in ‘playing the dozens’ (see play v. 13i). U.S. Black English.
ΚΠ
1970 H. E. Roberts Third Ear 12/1 Screaming on, telling someone off;..embarrassing someone publicly.
1974 H. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin', & Playin' Dozens v. 198 Sometimes, ‘loud mouthing’ or ‘loud talking’, ‘sounding’, ‘screaming on someone’ or even ‘bogarding’ are synonyms for woofing.
3. transitive. To utter with a scream. Also with out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > cry or shout (loudness) > cry of emotion or pain > [verb (transitive)] > scream or shriek
screak1569
shriek1593
screech1639
squall1703
scream1710
skreigh1786
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 15. ⁋ 2 Clapping me on the Back and skreaming a Lullaby.
1823 Ld. Byron Island iv. xiii. 76 The sea-birds..screaming high their harsh and hungry dirge.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 2nd Ser. 20 Mrs. Macklin..has no sooner opened her little street door and screamed out ‘Muffins’ with all her might, than [etc.].
1866 C. M. Yonge Dove in Eagle's Nest I. ix. 189 ‘Peace, thou fool!’ screamed the old lady.
1890 A. Conan Doyle White Company xxxi Screaming out the doggerel lines which had long been the watchword of the Jacquerie.
1976 B. Freemantle November Man x. 131 ‘The servants can't hear, Jocelyn,’ she screamed.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
<
n.1513
v.a1200- apophasis
- apophatic
- apophaticism
- apophenia
- apophlegmatic
- apophlegmatical
- apophlegmatism
- apophlegmatizant
- apophlegmatizer
- apophonies
- apophony
- apophoret
- apophthegm
- apophthegmatic
- apophthegmatical
- apophthegmatically
- apophthegmatist
- apophthegmatize
- apophthegmatizing
- apophthegms
- apophyge
- apophyges
- apophyllite
- apophyllites
- apophyllous