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# screech

«screech» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make a very loud, high, harsh sound, like a scared…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (screech, screeches, screeched, screeching); noun (a screech, screeches)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To screech is to make a very loud, high, harsh sound, like a scared bird or a person screaming. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#m1)

2) When tyres or brakes screech, they make a sharp, scraping noise as a car stops suddenly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#m2)

3) A screech is one such loud, high, unpleasant sound. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#m3)

4) «Screech to a halt» means to stop very suddenly, often with that noise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In stories «screech» tells the reader something sudden, scary or out of control: an owl in the night, brakes before a crash, a frightened person. In road safety, screeching brakes warn that a car is stopping hard. A barn owl is also called a screech owl in some places. Common phrases: «screech to a halt», «let out a screech».

### examples

- The owl screeched in the dark wood. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#x1)
- The car screeched to a halt at the crossing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#x2)
- My little sister screeched when she saw the spider. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#x3)
- We heard the screech of brakes outside school. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#x4)
- The chalk made a horrible screech on the board. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#x5)
- Parrots screech when they are excited. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#x6)
- The train screeched into the station. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#x7)
- She let out a screech of laughter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#x8)
- Peter thimbled her, and almost immediately she screeched. “What is it, Wendy?” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/#x9)

### note

Regular verb: screeched. Close in meaning to «shriek» and «scream», but «screech» is harsher and more like a scraping noise; machines and birds screech, people shriek or scream more often. «Screech» can be noun or verb.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «screech» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/screech/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.