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Webster 1913 Edition


Shrill

Shrill

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Shriller
;
sup
erl.
Shrillest
.]
[OE.
shril
,
schril
; akin to LG.
schrell
, G.
schrill
. See
Shrill
,
Verb.
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.
Shakespeare
Let winds be
shrill
, let waves roll high.
Byron.

Shrill

,
Noun.
A shrill sound.
[Obs.]
Spenser.

Shrill

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

Shrill

,
Verb.
T.
To utter or express in a shrill tone; to cause to make a shrill sound.
How poor Andromache
shrills
her dolors forth.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition


Shrill

SHRILL

,
Adj.
[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

,
Verb.
I.
To utter an acute piercing sound.
Break we out pipes that shrill'd as loud as lark. Spenser.

SHRILL

,
Verb.
T.
To cause to make a shrill sound.

Definition 2024


shrill

shrill

English

Adjective

shrill (comparative shriller, superlative shrillest)

  1. High-pitched and piercing.
    The woods rang with shrill cries of the birds.
    • Shakespeare
      Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give / To sounds confused.
    • Byron
      Let winds be shrill, let waves roll high.
  2. Sharp or keen to the senses.
  3. Having a shrill voice.
    • 1872, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Charlotte's Inheritance (page 105)
      'Oh, don't she look white!' cried a shrill girl with a baby in her arms.

Coordinate terms

Translations

Verb

shrill (third-person singular simple present shrills, present participle shrilling, simple past and past participle shrilled)

  1. To make a shrill noise.
    • Spenser
      Break we our pipes, that shrill'd loud as lark.
    • Goldsmith
      No sounds were heard but of the shrilling cock.
    • L. Wallace
      His voice shrilled with passion.

Translations

Noun

shrill (plural shrills)

  1. A shrill sound.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)
    • 2015, Cliff Schexnayder, Builders of the Hoosac Tunnel
      The shrill of the whistle from the locomotive “Charlestown” announced the arrival of the first train into Fitchburg on 5 March 1845 []