as in to scream
to cry out loudly and emotionally
the children shrieked with excitement
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shriek
David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 11 Nov. 2025
When Carol directs her shrieking rage directly into Zosia’s face, all of We feels it, the entirety of the human race falling to the ground with seizures.
—Erin Qualey, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2025
Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025
Led by blaring ‘80s synthesizers and a pounding beat, the song features a distorted lead vocal from D’Angelo, who accompanies himself on multitracked backing vocals with the occasional soul shriek thrown in for good measure.
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 15 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shriek
Verb
The television studio serves as the Colosseum, with a live audience whipped into a frenzy and shrieking for blood while following the action on a jumbo screen.
—Noun
When 7-year-old Lennon appeared to help, the shrieks continued.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for shriek
Verb
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Hearing the Creature screaming his name, Victor turns back.—
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For all the talk about home-field advantage and the Bears needing their fans to scream 20 percent louder and be 30 percent drunker than usual, past precedent shows that won’t matter much.—
Noun
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This not-quite-title song, which is nearly eight minutes long, is a sort of mini-suite, opening with a dog barking, giving way to an acoustic-guitar melody accompanying polyphonic vocals, then becoming electric and crashingly alive, until the relentless screech of a guitar drags you to the end.—
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As the band blares, Georgia fans bark for the Dawgs and Alabama faithful screech Roll Tide.—
Verb
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Dozens of Morton Grove kiddos helped to ring in the New Year about 12 hours before the calendar change, blowing noisemakers and squealing with excitement as balloons were released to celebrate the move into 2026.—
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Most of the comedy is of the slapstick variety, including set-pieces with a live tarantula, a dead squirrel and a squealing wild hog.—
Noun
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The Ochi speak, not with words, but sounds—melodic shrills that reverberate in the air and can be interpreted on an emotional level.—
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What's more, this door alarm features three sensitivity levels and emits a loud shrill that will instantly scare an intruder away.—
Verb
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People would rather yell at pundits on television than reach for their reading glasses.—
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Just a few days earlier in California, a house that had been decorated with lights celebrating Chanukah was riddled with bullets, with the assailant having been heard to yell anti-Jewish epithets.—
Noun
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With Christian Braun out these next few weeks, the Nuggets (10-3) could use every squeak.—
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Researchers used thermal imaging, ultrasonic microphones, and AI models to parse countless hours of footage and isolate rat squeaks.—
Noun
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They are pinched into a bright, almost surgical nasality or burst loose into grand, sideways arcs, flaring out in a feral yelp.—
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The growls and snarls of his hounds had turned to yelps and shrieks.—
Cite this Entry
“Shriek.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shriek. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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