Lexic.us

Definition of Shrill

1. Adjective. Having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones. "A shrill gaiety"

2. Verb. Utter a shrill cry. "The woods shrill with many kinds of birds "

3. Adjective. Being sharply insistent on being heard. ; "Shrill criticism"

4. Adjective. Of colors that are bright and gaudy. "A shrill turquoise"

Definition of Shrill

1. a. Acute; sharp; piercing; having or emitting a sharp, piercing tone or sound; -- said of a sound, or of that which produces a sound.

2. n. A shrill sound.

3. v. i. To utter an acute, piercing sound; to sound with a sharp, shrill tone; to become shrill.

4. v. t. To utter or express in a shrill tone; to cause to make a shrill sound.

Definition of Shrill

1. Adjective. High-pitched and piercing. ¹

2. Adjective. Sharp or keen to the senses. ¹

3. Verb. To make a shrill noise. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Shrill

1. having a high-pitched and piercing quality [adj SHRILLER, SHRILLEST] : SHRILLY [adv] / to utter a shrill sound [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Shrill

1. To utter or express in a shrill tone; to cause to make a shrill sound. "How poor Andromache shrills her dolors forth." (Shak) Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Shrill

shrievalty shrieve shrieved shrieves shrieving shrift shriftfather shrifts shright shrights

shrike shriked shrikelike shrikes shriking shrill (current term) shrilled shriller shrillest shrillier

shrilling shrilling(a) shrillness shrillnesses shrills shrilly shrimp shrimp-fish shrimp Newburg

Literary usage of Shrill

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses by Robert Louis Stevenson (1905)
"... r- 1 CHAPTER I THE shrill TRUMPET VERY early the next morning, before the first peep of the day, Dick arose, changed his garments, armed himself once ..."

2. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (1916)
"They came back with shrill cries over the jutting shoulder of the house, flying darkly against the fading air. What birds were they ? ..."

3. A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words are Deduced from by Samuel Johnson, Henry John Todd, Alexander Chalmers (1824)
"To cry with a shrill sharp voice ; to being apt to take offence without much reason. from qualm.'} Nice ; fastidious ; easily disgusted; having the stomach ..."

4. The Iliad of Homer by Homer, John Graham Cordery (1871)
"Down through the firmament from heaven she sprang, Like to some shrill-voiced falcon on full wing ; And, whilst the host were arming through the camp, ..."

5. Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English: Containing Words from the by Thomas Wright (1904)
"(A.-N.) A sort of small-mouthed and shrill-sounding trumpet. Ci. ... To make a loud shrill noise ; to play on the clarion. ..."

6. The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses by Robert Louis Stevenson (1888)
"CHAPTER I. THE shrill TRUMPET. VERY early the next morning, before the first peep of the day, Dick arose, changed his garments, armed himself once more like ..."

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