shrill
part of speech
adjective (shrill, shriller, shrillest); verb (shrill, shrills, shrilled — rare)
meaning for a pupil
1) A shrill sound is very high, loud and sharp, often unpleasant: a shrill whistle, a shrill scream. tree →
2) Shrill can describe someone who complains or argues in a loud, annoying way. tree →
3) (rare, verb) To shrill is to make a shrill sound. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: Describes a high, piercing cry. Isaiah calls on a town to cry out because an enemy army is coming. In the primary lessons: Science (sound): shrill sounds have a high pitch because the vibrations are very fast. Everyday life: a referee's shrill whistle, a smoke alarm's shrill beeping (which tells you to get out). Stories: «a shrill voice» often shows fear, panic or a bossy character.
examples
- Cry thou with a shrill voice, O daughter of Gallim! (Prophets ISA.10.30, JPS 1917) tree →
- The referee blew a shrill whistle. tree →
- A shrill scream came from the playground. tree →
- The smoke alarm gave a shrill beep. tree →
- The bird's shrill call woke me up. tree →
- Her voice became shrill when she was scared. tree →
- The kettle let out a shrill whistle. tree →
- The shrill cries of seagulls filled the harbour. tree →
- But more distinct came the shrill voice of Tinker Bell. tree →
note
Adjective; adverb «shrilly», noun «shrillness». Opposite: deep, low, soft. In science, «high-pitched» is the neutral word; «shrill» adds that it hurts the ears.
In the corpora
- Cry thou with a shrill voice, O daughter of Gallim!
- Blowing too hard makes a recorder jump up to a shrill squeal; a soft, steady breath gives a clear note.
- Then the White Rabbit reads out, at the top of his shrill little voice, the name: «Alice!»
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «shrill» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.