Screech
Screech (skrēch) , intransitive verb
[Also formerly, scritch, Old English skriken, skrichen, schriken, of Scand. origin; compare Icelandic skrakja to shriek, to screech, skrīkja to titter, Swedish skrika to shriek, Danish skrige; also Gael. sgreach, sgreuch, Welsh ysgrechio, Sanskrit kharj to creak. Compare Shriek, v., Scream, v.]
To utter a harsh, shrill cry; to make a sharp outcry, as in terror or acute pain; to scream; to shriek.
The screech owl, screeching loud.
Screech , noun
A harsh, shrill cry, as of one in acute pain or in fright; a shriek; a scream.
Collocations (4)
Screech bird or Screech thrush (Zoology) , the fieldfare; -- so called from its harsh cry before rain.
Screech rain ,
Screech hawk (Zoology) , the European goatsucker; -- so called from its note. [Provincial English]
Screech owl (Zoology) , (a) A small American owl (Scops asio), either gray or reddish in color (b) The European barn owl. The name is applied also to other species.