Adjacent Words

Shrill definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SHRILL, a. [L. grillus.]
1. Sharp; acute; piercing; as sound; as a shrill voice; shrill echoes.
2. Uttering an acute sound; as the cock's shrill sounding throat; a shrill trumpet.
[NOTE. A shrill may be tremulous of trilling; but this circumstance is not essential it, although it seems to be of the root of trill.]
SHRILL, v.i. To utter an acute piercing sound.
Break we out pipes that shrill'd as loud as lark. Spenser.
SHRILL, v.t. To cause to make a shrill sound.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones ; "a shrill whistle"; "a shrill gaiety" [syn: shrill, sharp]
2: being sharply insistent on being heard; "strident demands"; "shrill criticism" [syn: strident, shrill]
3: of colors that are bright and gaudy; "a shrill turquoise" v
1: utter a shrill cry [syn: shriek, shrill, pipe up, pipe]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English; probably akin to Old English scrallettan to resound loudly — more at skirl Date: 13th century transitive verb scream intransitive verb to utter or emit an acute piercing sound II. adjective Date: 14th century 1. a. having or emitting a sharp high-pitched tone or sound ; piercing b. accompanied by sharp high-pitched sounds or cries <shrill gaiety> 2. having a sharp or vivid effect on the senses <shrill light> 3. strident, intemperate <shrill anger> <shrill criticism> • shrill adverb • shrillness noun • shrilly adverb III. noun Date: 1589 a shrill sound <the shrill of the ship's whistle>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & v. --adj. 1 piercing and high-pitched in sound. 2 derog. (esp. of a protester) sharp, unrestrained, unreasoning. --v. 1 intr. (of a cry etc.) sound shrilly. 2 tr. (of a person etc.) utter or send out (a song, complaint, etc.) shrilly. Derivatives: shrilly adv. shrillness n. Etymology: ME, rel. to LG schrell sharp in tone or taste f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shrill Shrill, a. [Compar. Shriller; superl. Shrillest.] [OE. shril, schril; akin to LG. schrell, G. schrill. See Shrill,v. i.] Acute; sharp; piercing; having or emitting a sharp, piercing tone or sound; -- said of a sound, or of that which produces a sound. Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give To sounds confused. --Shak. Let winds be shrill, let waves roll high. --Byron.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shrill Shrill, n. A shrill sound. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shrill Shrill, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Shrilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Shrilling.] [OE. schrillen, akin to G. schrillen; cf. AS. scralletan to resound loudly, Icel. skr["o]lta to jolt, Sw. skr["a]lla to shrill, Norw. skryla, skr?la. Cf. Skirl.] To utter an acute, piercing sound; to sound with a sharp, shrill tone; to become shrill. Break we our pipes, that shrilledloud as lark. --Spenser. No sounds were heard but of the shrilling cock. --Goldsmith. His voice shrilled with passion. --L. Wallace.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shrill Shrill, v. t. To utter or express in a shrill tone; to cause to make a shrill sound. How poor Andromache shrills her dolors forth. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(shriller, shrillest) 1. A shrill sound is high-pitched and unpleasant. Shrill cries and startled oaths flew up around us as pandemonium broke out... Mary Ann's voice grew shrill. = piercing ADJ • shrilly 'What are you doing?' she demanded shrilly. ADV: usu ADV with v • shrillness ...that ugly shrillness in her voice. 2. If you describe a demand, protest, or statement as shrill, you disapprove of it and do not like the strong, forceful way it is said. Shrill voices on both sides of the Atlantic are advocating protectionism. ADJ: usu ADJ n [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Acute, sharp, high, high-toned, high-pitched, piercing.

Moby Thesaurus

absonant, acute, argute, atonal, cacophonous, caterwaul, cracked, creak, creaky, diaphonic, disconsonant, discordant, disharmonic, disharmonious, dissonant, ear-piercing, ear-splitting, flat, grating, harsh, high, high-pitched, howl, howling, immelodious, inharmonic, inharmonious, keen, keening, musicless, nonmelodious, off, off-key, off-tone, out of pitch, out of tone, out of tune, penetrating, piercing, pipe, piping, raucous, reedy, screak, screaky, scream, screech, screeching, screechy, sharp, shriek, shrieking, shrieky, skirl, skreigh, sour, squawk, squeak, squeaking, squeaky, squeal, strident, thin, treble, tuneless, ululant, ululation, unharmonious, unmelodious, unmusical, untunable, untuned, untuneful, wail, wailing, whine, whining, whistle, whistling, yammer