shrill

«shrill» in Mova's school dictionary: very high, loud and sharp, often unpleasant: a shrill… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

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

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

• 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

• 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!»
• Cry thou with a shrill voice, O daughter of Gallim!

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «shrill» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.