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# shrill

«shrill» in Mova's school dictionary: **very high, loud and sharp, often unpleasant: a shrill…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (shrill, shriller, shrillest); verb (shrill, shrills, shrilled — rare)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A shrill sound is very high, loud and sharp, often unpleasant: a shrill whistle, a shrill scream. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#m1)

2) Shrill can describe someone who complains or argues in a loud, annoying way. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#m2)

3) (rare, verb) To shrill is to make a shrill sound. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Science (sound): shrill sounds have a high pitch because the vibrations are very fast. Everyday life: a referee's shrill whistle, a smoke alarm's shrill beeping (which tells you to get out). Stories: «a shrill voice» often shows fear, panic or a bossy character.

### examples

- The referee blew a shrill whistle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#x1)
- A shrill scream came from the playground. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#x2)
- The smoke alarm gave a shrill beep. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#x3)
- The bird's shrill call woke me up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#x4)
- Her voice became shrill when she was scared. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#x5)
- The kettle let out a shrill whistle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#x6)
- The shrill cries of seagulls filled the harbour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#x7)
- But more distinct came the shrill voice of Tinker Bell. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrill/#x8)

### note

Adjective; adverb «shrilly», noun «shrillness». Opposite: deep, low, soft. In science, «high-pitched» is the neutral word; «shrill» adds that it hurts the ears.

### In the corpora

- [Blowing too hard makes a recorder jump up to a shrill squeal; a soft, steady breath gives a clear note.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/1-music-lessons-and-the-recorder/5/)
- [Then the White Rabbit reads out, at the top of his shrill little voice, the name: «Alice!»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2/14/)
- [Cry thou with a shrill voice, O daughter of Gallim!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/ISA.246/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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