shrill

Meanings

Adjective

• High-pitched and piercing.
• Having a shrill voice.
• Sharp or keen to the senses.
• Fierce, loud, strident.

Verb

• To make a shrill noise.

Noun

• A shrill sound.

Origin

• From Late Middle English schrille, shirle, shrille, possibly from the earlier shil, schille, from Old English scill, of Germanic origin. The r in the word was introduced by analogy to Middle English skrīke, skrīken, scrēmen, possibly to avoid confusion with non-Anglian forms of schelle (modern English shell) where Old English scill and scill existed.
• The word is cognate with Icelandic skella, Low German schrell.