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[ adjective ] high-pitched and sharp
Examples "piercing screams" "a shrill whistle" Used in print (W. E. B. DuBois, Worlds of Color....)It began invariably in low tones , almost conversational , and then gradually worked_up to high , shrill appeals to God and man . (William Maxwell, The Chateau....)The first shrill ring of the telephone brought Harold out into the hall . (Octavia Waldo, A Cup of the Sun....)He expected Concetta 's thin hand to reach down to grasp the boy , and her shrill , impetuous voice to sound against the rotundity of his disfigured flesh that was never sure of hearing anything . Related terms |
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[ verb ] utter a shrill cry
Used in print (James D. Horan, The Shadow Catcher....)Other Indians were running at the ponies , shrilling and waving blankets . (R. Leslie Gourse, With Gall and Honey....)The little boys shrilled out a Yiddish translation or interpretation of the Five Books of Moses , which they had previously chanted in Hebrew . |
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