Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Shrill
Shrill
,Adj.
[
Com
par.
Shriller
; sup
erl.
Shrillest
.] 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
To sounds confused.
shrill
whistle which doth order giveTo 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.
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.
Break we out pipes that shrill'd as loud as lark. Spenser.
SHRILL
,Verb.
T.
Definition 2024
shrill
shrill
English
Adjective
shrill (comparative shriller, superlative shrillest)
- 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.
- Sharp or keen to the senses.
- 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.
- 1872, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Charlotte's Inheritance (page 105)
Coordinate terms
Translations
high-pitched and piercing
|
Verb
shrill (third-person singular simple present shrills, present participle shrilling, simple past and past participle shrilled)
- 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.
- Spenser
Translations
make a shrill noise
|
Noun
shrill (plural shrills)
- 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 […]