shrill

Etymology

From Late Middle English schrille, shirle, shrille (“of a sound: high-pitched, piercing; producing such a sound”), possibly from the earlier shil, schille (“loud, resounding; high-pitched, shrill; audible, clear; melodious, sweet-sounding”), from Old English scill (“sonorous sounding”), 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 (“sonorous sounding”) and scill (“shell”) existed. The word is cognate with Icelandic skella (“crash, bang, slam”), Low German schrell (“sharp in taste or tone”).

adj

1. High-pitched and piercing.
   The woods rang with shrill cries of the birds.
2. Having a shrill voice.
   "It is Miss Halliday!" cried the house-maid, as she opened the door. "And oh my," she added, looking back into the hall with a sorrowful face, "how bad she do look!" … "Oh, don't she look white!" cried a shrill girl with a baby in her arms. 1872, M[ary] E[lizabeth] Braddon, “A Dread Revelation”, in Charlotte’s Inheritance. A Novel (Harper’s Library of Select Novels; no. 311), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, publishers, Franklin Square, →OCLC, book VIII (A Fight against Time), page 105, column 1
3. Sharp or keen to the senses.
   Rather than shrill, feisty whites tasting of grass, green beans, gooseberry or pipi de chat (the somehow more polite French term for cat's pee), [Didier] Dagueneau's Sauvignons were statuesque, beautifully balanced wines with flavors reminiscent of citrus zests, apricot, fig, passion fruit and minerals. 14 October 2010, Jacqueline Friedrich, “Son follows in late winemaker Didier Dagueneau’s storied footsteps”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 2017-12-01
4. (figurative, derogatory, especially of a complaint or demand) Fierce, loud, strident.
   The clerk had, I'm afraid, a shrew of a wife, shrill, vehement, and fluent. 1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “In which Mr. Dangerfield Visits the Church of Chapelizod, and Zekiel Irons Goes A-fishing”, in The House by the Church-yard … In Three Volumes, London: Tinsley, Brothers,[…], →OCLC; republished as The House by the Church-yard: A Novel … Three Volumes in One, New York, N.Y.: Carleton, publisher, […]; London: Tinsley & Co., 1866, →OCLC, page 115

verb

1. To make a shrill noise.
   As the guard's whistle shrilled the "right away," I made to join my companions in the train, but with a smile the driver, whose name was Abdul, bade me take the fireman's seat. 1942 July-August, Philip Spencer, “On the Footplate in Egypt”, in Railway Magazine, page 208
   'Cause the owls only call out when something happens the rest of us can't understand. When they shrill, it's something terrible, … 2003, Paul Lathan, chapter 6, in The Cemetery Within, Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, page 36
   As she stumbles over scattered clothes, randomly kicked-off shoes, newspapers, and video games, she finally reaches the telephone, as it shrills out its cries to be picked up. 2010, Ray Jones, “The Night Before”, in The Suits: An Animated Way to Look at Family Life, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, page 3
   Jesse Lingard, another substitute, was only eight yards out when Harry Maguire’s knock-down fell for him but it was a wild finish and [Gareth] Southgate still had his head in his hands when the final whistle shrilled. 10 November 2017, Daniel Taylor, “Youthful England earn draw with Germany but Lingard rues late miss”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2018-03-28

noun

1. A shrill sound.
   The shrill of the whistle from the locomotive “Charlestown” announced the arrival of the first train into Fitchburg on 5 March 1845— … 2015, Cliff[ord J.] Schexnayder, Builders of the Hoosac Tunnel, Portsmouth, N.H.: Peter E. Randall
   Sonographic example of two consecutive loud shrills of a common marmoset, showing sound frequencies of harmonics reaching into the ultrasonic range. 2018, Jaco Bakker, Johannes A. M. Langermans, “Ultrasonic Components of Vocalizations in Marmosets”, in Stefan M. Brudzynski, editor, Handbook of Ultrasonic Vocalization: A Window into the Emotional Brain (Handbook of Behavioral Neuroscience; 25), London, San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, part L (Ultrasonic Vocalization in Other Vertebrate Taxa), figure 49.1 caption, page 539, column 2