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Meaning of scream in English:

scream

Pronunciation /skriːm/

See synonyms for scream

Translate scream into Spanish

verb

[no object]

1Give a long, loud, piercing cry or cries expressing extreme emotion or pain.
‘they could hear him screaming in pain’
- ‘The victim's older brother recalled seeing his brother in the garden seconds before he heard him screaming in pain.’
- ‘I went outside and phoned all our friends and family, and came back to the ward to hear your mother screaming with pain.’
- ‘I screamed when the pain began then bit my bottom lip refusing to scream again.’
- ‘By the end of the entire ordeal, my cheeks were tear-stained and my lips raw from biting back the pain rather than screaming out loud again.’
- ‘Rachel screamed out in pain as tears began rolling down her cheeks.’
- ‘He screams in pain when he learns that his wife has been killed in the explosion.’
- ‘It's very unpleasant for a reasonably proud person such as myself to be in a position where I'm screaming with pain.’
- ‘He screamed loudly in agony and flew bolt upright, clutching his arm and cursing.’
- ‘I was practically screaming at the top of my lungs by the end.’
- ‘I almost screamed in frustration, was it always about the game with her?’
- ‘Suddenly, he heard voices screaming in terror, horrible shrieks emitting from the front grounds.’
- ‘Her hands were shaking, her body trembling but her voice screamed forcefully into the phone.’
- ‘She screamed in horror as she fell, thinking she was soon to die.’
- ‘She threw her arms around Noah, still jumping and screaming with joy.’
- ‘She screamed into her pillow, releasing her frustration into the creamy white sheet.’
- ‘Eva screamed with delight, hugging her sister tightly when she opened the door.’
- ‘They took Lydia and me back to the house, with Lydia screaming the entire time.’
- ‘Meanwhile, security forces dragged screaming residents out of homes, and settlers elsewhere burned houses and fields in protest.’
- ‘I then threw the sheet aside and ran screaming from his house.’
- ‘But before they could make any other moves, someone screamed at the top of their lungs.’
1. 1.1reporting verb Cry something in a high-pitched, frenzied way.
  no object ‘I ran to the house screaming for help’
  ‘‘Get out!’ he screamed’
  ‘he screamed abuse down the phone’
  ‘There are the odd occasions where they shout and scream abuse and are taken off to Westlea Police Station.’
  ‘He was driven to Harrogate police station screaming abuse throughout the journey.’
  ‘If most of your weekends are spent watching the footy and screaming instructions and abuse at the players on TV, then why not put your vast football knowledge to better use.’
  ‘When a woman saw two men arrive in a car outside a public house, she tried to scream a warning to the man she believed to be their target.’
  ‘Blaze ran into the house, screaming something about telling Auri, while Ariella just stood there silently.’
  ‘He told me that it finally ended with his ex after she spent six hours screaming abuse in his face in their living room.’
  ‘As I wrestled with her on the pavement she screamed abuse in my face and tried to kick Paul.’
  ‘She screamed a high pitch screech and turned to face the voice.’
  ‘It was now he started screaming, ‘The house is really on fire. Get anything you can and get out!’’
  ‘Her mother was screaming filthy obscenities and it was wrong of her to do that.’
  ‘With the crowd screaming our last name like there was no tomorrow, a mother was proud.’
  ‘Mila's solace was then disrupted when she heard a group of people from the crowd scream her name.’
  ‘All three blogs wrote that Wilson later stormed down Senate halls, screaming obscenities.’
  ‘He is the perfect example of a teenager that is all but screaming aloud for help.’
  ‘Three people were down the hall, and a girl was screaming for help.’
  ‘A neighbour heard the women screaming for help, pleading with her son to stop.’
  ‘A nurse came rushing in, and upon seeing my anger, screamed for a doctor.’
  ‘His burning impulse is to exit in sound and fury, screaming outright the profane secrets he merely hinted at in his earlier comments.’
  ‘Halfway through Smyth is screaming what sounds like ‘Lenny Henry!’’
  ‘For a moment it sounded like a woman screaming for help.’
  shriek, screech, yell, howl, shout, bellow, bawl, cry out, call out, yawp, yelp, squeal, wail, squawk, squall, caterwaul, whoop
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2. 1.2Urgently and vociferously call attention to one's views or feelings, especially ones of anger or distress.
  with clause ‘his supporters scream that he is being done an injustice’
  ‘the creative side of me is screaming out for attention’
  ‘At some point, though, our inner lives may scream for our attention, and this can come as a complete surprise.’
  ‘A small child in the back room screams for attention, waking another child in the cradle in the far side of the living room.’
  ‘A thousand questions are screaming for attention at the back of my skull, and it's hard ignoring them all.’
  ‘If so, there are three crucial issues that scream for immediate attention and carry the least political risk for him.’
  ‘Her naked pain screams from the pages of the book.’
  ‘Whether I disciplined him or ignored him, his actions would cause Kanisha to scream like an air-raid siren.’
  ‘Meanwhile they screamed, ‘Why do French film-makers demand real sex?’’
  ‘Sarah woke to the sound of her mother screaming at her again.’
  ‘It's his favorite move, and history screams that it'll hurt the campaign if he insists on it.’
  ‘‘The last he saw Harry, a fireman was screaming at him to get out,’ said his brother-in-law.’
  ‘Then there were the morning newspaper headlines which had screamed of yet another move to entice the Old Firm south.’
  ‘One of my earliest childhood memories is of my little sister screaming, ‘Move out of the way, big back!’’
  ‘Your training partner is screaming for you to move the bar an inch, half of an inch - anything to prove you're still alive, but your strength is all gone.’
  ‘I hadn't realized he was screaming at me to move, until he hit me.’
  ‘My brain was screaming at me to move away as I walked towards the pool.’
  ‘The ambulance instantly ground to a halt and the driver leaned out of his window and screamed for Patrick to move out of the way.’
  ‘It's easy to jump up and down and scream about a move like this, but it addresses the symptom, not the underlying question.’
  ‘The press-people are screaming for more information.’
  ‘The younger of the two finally regained her bearing and stood up, ready to indignantly scream at her sister.’
  ‘The organisation literally yells and screams about how others ‘kill animals’ but this is how they operate?’
2Make a loud, high-pitched sound.
‘sirens were screaming from all over the city’
- ‘The sirens screamed even louder as the ambulance had arrived.’
- ‘The loud sirens screamed through the quiet night lighting up everything in its path.’
- ‘There are firetrucks and ambulances everywhere, sirens screaming.’
- ‘As we were leaving the scene, we passed at least four fire trucks heading towards the park, sirens screaming.’
- ‘They won't then send an ambulance with sirens screaming and bells ringing and that sort of thing.’
- ‘When the air raid sirens screamed, they left in their apartment building scrambled for the cellar.’
- ‘Traffic became grid-locked and sirens screamed as fire engines and ambulances tried to negotiate a way through the chaos.’
- ‘Ambulance sirens screamed as if enraged at the sight of a Baghdad car bombing.’
- ‘To my surprise the ambulance siren screamed to life and the vehicle departed heading east to the highway.’
- ‘The car followed, lights flashing and sirens screaming.’
- ‘Following a minor road accident, the tourist was rushed by paramedics, all sirens screaming, to a local hospital.’
- ‘Police cars start arriving at the docks with lights flashing and sirens screaming, as irate ferry workers haul a body out of the water.’
- ‘When Hannah opened her eyes, she found herself lying on a stretcher, with sirens screaming loudly in her ears.’
- ‘I had thought they were so cool wearing those yellow jackets and red hats, riding around on big red trucks with sirens screaming.’
- ‘They only stop kissing as their friend pulls them apart due to the police sirens screaming loudly a few streets away.’
- ‘Thankfully, the EMS was located just around the corner, their approaching sirens screaming.’
- ‘A steady stream of ambulances was coming out of the school drive, all with lights flashing and sirens screaming into the leaden sky.’
- ‘The sirens of an ambulance screamed on the way to the hospital, alerting everyone that a tragedy had occurred.’
- ‘A loud piercing alarm began screaming throughout the vast and dark room.’
- ‘The drone of aircraft propellers and thump of helicopter rotors made way for screaming auto engines and squealing tyres.’
1. 2.1no object, with adverbial of direction Move very rapidly with or as if with a loud, high-pitched sound.
  ‘a shell screamed overhead’
  ‘He launched himself into a spectacular overhead kick that screamed past Walker into the Walsall net.’
  ‘The young Spaniard swung at it and sent the ball screaming past the helpless Gianluigi Buffon and into the left-hand side of the Juve goal.’
  ‘Overhead, salvo after salvo of heavy shells screamed through the sky from Allied warships pounding German positions.’
  ‘Suddenly he heard the whining sound of the lead balls, like so many hornets screaming past his ears.’
  ‘All the while, motorbikes were screaming past us between the two lanes of traffic.’
  ‘Epsom grabbed the winner two minutes from time when a midfield ball dropped to Shoefield, whose shot screamed past Jones into the net.’
  ‘It was a bigger bike, a 125 Yamaha, and it screamed past me in a flash of white and blue two-stroke smoke.’
  ‘The ambulance screamed past lighting my face in alternate colours as I trudged up William Street.’
  ‘Samuel crossed and Solano's audacious volley screamed just past the post.’
  ‘He cut inside and his left-foot volley from just inside the box screamed past Niemi.’
  ‘His ship was hit and destroyed as a Kratch ship screamed past the squadron.’
  ‘Police vessels were still screaming past him, as well as lifters and medi-cars.’
  ‘A hand yanked him backwards as a car went screaming past him, the driver angrily blaring his horn at him.’
  ‘As the bullets went screaming past the bodies, four drones opened fire on them.’
  ‘Mike hit the siren and they screamed around the corner.’
  ‘There were no bells sounding, no fireworks screaming through the sky, and no audience to clap and cheer us on.’
3informal, dated Turn informer.
- ‘he never got paid and my information is he's ready to scream’

noun

1A long, loud, piercing cry expressing extreme emotion or pain.
‘they were awakened by screams for help’
- ‘She winced every time she heard the loud screams of heart-break and pain that exploded from Mrs. Lane's mouth.’
- ‘As the door swung closed, they could hear screams of pain.’
- ‘War cries became screams of pain under the deadly rain.’
- ‘She lay there for a moment, until she heard a loud scream from behind her.’
- ‘One of the puppies hopped on Pepe, and the baby let out a scream of either extreme delight or pain.’
- ‘The two were just at the edge of the forest when they heard a battle scream from behind them.’
- ‘Loud cheers and slight screams were heard all around me and I turned to Zach grinning.’
- ‘Late at night I heard screams, not of pain, but of sheer agony, coming from the floors below.’
- ‘Frightened screams echoed some houses away, probably kids scaring themselves in some Halloween slumber party.’
- ‘She closed her eyes and let out her fear in a high-pitched scream.’
- ‘The shouting was getting louder by now, the sound of an occasional gunshot audible beneath high pitched screams.’
- ‘The sound of their screams and cries echoed out over the river and several people disappeared under the water and never resurfaced.’
- ‘Kirby tried to let out a loud scream but the sound never made it out of her mouth.’
- ‘He blacked out for a few seconds, then came to, to the sound of his own screams.’
- ‘The only out of place sounds were the screams coming from the roller coaster just a lengths away from the hotel.’
- ‘The men below came running up on deck at the sound of her scream.’
- ‘The girl's terrified screams alerted a shopkeeper and his friend who managed to kick the animals away.’
- ‘North Kent police said the three left empty handed after being scared off by the woman's screams for help.’
- ‘Every now and then, screams of delight added to the atmosphere of competition.’
shriek, screech, yell, howl, shout, bellow, bawl, cry, yawp, yelp, squeal, wail, squawk, squall, caterwaul, whoop
View synonyms
1. 1.1A high-pitched cry made by an animal.
  ‘the screams of the seagulls’
  ‘A low rumbling and high-pitched scream of an animal came from somewhere out in the fog.’
  ‘He grabbed it around the neck and the animal let out a scream of fear.’
  ‘Alain cupped his ears as the creature's high pitched scream shattered every window pane in the room.’
2A loud, piercing sound.
‘the scream of a falling bomb’
- ‘Then the world was reduced to a maddening thrum frequently pierced by the high-pitched scream of generators.’
- ‘They weren't really alarms; they were more like high-pitched whistles or screams.’
- ‘From the hallway, the high-pitched screams of the heart monitor could be clearly heard and it resonated in Lucas' ears.’
- ‘More than 700 alarms, which emit a high-pitched 130 decibel scream, have been sold in a four-day frenzy.’
- ‘The bell resounded at its high-pitch scream and last-minute stragglers rushed in.’
3informal in singular An irresistibly funny person, thing, or situation.
- ‘the movie's a scream’
- ‘Some of the perfunctory descriptions they offer of the movies they sell on DVD are a scream.’
- ‘According to my sources, the movie, titled In The Closet, is a real scream.’
laugh
wit, hoot, comedian, comic, entertainer, joker, clown, buffoon
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