shrill´ness

shrill´ness
shrill «shrihl», adjective, verb, noun, adverb.
–adj.
1. having a high pitch; high and sharp in sound; piercing: »

a shrill cry or voice. Crickets, locusts, and katydids make shrill noises.

 SYNONYM(S): strident.
2. a) full of shrill sounds: »

a gym shrill with young fans.

b) characterized or accompanied by sharp, high-pitched sounds: »

the shrill merriment of children.

3. Archaic. a) keen; sharp: »

The northern summer air is shrill and cold (William E. Henley).

 b) pungent. c) poignant.
–v.i.
to speak, cry, or sing with a shrill voice; make a shrill sound; sound sharply: »

A wind that shrills All night in a waste land (Tennyson).

–v.t.
to utter or give forth (as a sound, cry, or words) in shrill tones; exclaim or proclaim with a shrill voice: »

The locust shrills his song of heat (John Greenleaf Whittier).

–n.
a shrill sound or cry: »

You may…almost fancy you hear the shrill of the midsummer cricket (Henry James).

–adv.
with a shrill sound; shrilly: »

The hounds and horn Through the high wood echoing shrill (Milton).

╂[Middle English shrille]
–shrill´ness, noun.

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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