Standard Lemma guide

skrike

noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /skɹaɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A cry or scream.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, regional

Examples

  • c''' 1573, attested by J. Raine at what tyme the said Herrison wyfe gave a skrike.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The mistle thrush.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To cry, sob, cry out or yell; to scream.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, regional

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English skrike, scryke (also skryche, schryke, shryke). Cognate with Old Frisian skrichte, Middle Low German schrichte.

From Middle English skriken, a borrowing from Old Norse skríkja (“to scream”) (compare Old English sċrīċ, sċrēċ > English shriek/screech), literally "bird with a shrill call," referring to a thrush, possibly imitative of its call. Attested from c 1573.