screech

1. 1.

   make a high-pitched, screeching noise

   “The door creaked when I opened it slowly”

   “My car engine makes a whining noise”

   Synonymswhinesqueakcreakscreakskreak

   Broadermake noise
2. 2.

   utter a harsh abrupt scream

   Synonymssquawkscreakskreakskreigh

   Broadershout

Other forms of screech

plural

screeches·

past tense

screeched·

present participle

screeching·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about screech

What does screech mean?

screech means "a high-pitched noise resembling a human cry". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in screech?

screech has 1 syllable: screech. In IPA it is /ˈskɹitʃ/.

What is another word for screech?

Close synonyms include screeching, shriek, shrieking, scream, screaming. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is screech a common word?

screech is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.