shriek

Etymology

From obsolete shrick (1567), shreke, variants of earlier screak, skricke (before 1500), from Middle English scrycke, from a North Germanic/Scandinavian language (compare Swedish skrika, Icelandic skríkja), from Proto-Germanic *skrīkijaną, *skrik- (compare English screech). More at screech.

noun

1. A sharp, shrill outcry or scream; a shrill wild cry such as is caused by sudden or extreme terror, pain, or the like.
2. (UK, slang) An exclamation mark.

verb

1. (intransitive) To utter a loud, sharp, shrill sound or cry, as do some birds and beasts; to scream, as in a sudden fright, in horror or anguish.
   "[O]h, yes! the loon does shriek dreadfully - particularly when there's fine rain[.]" 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 286
2. (transitive) To utter sharply and shrilly; to utter in or with a shriek or shrieks.
   She shrieked his name to the dark woods. 1817, Thomas Moore, Lalla-Rookh