ear-piercing scream
- noun
- /ˈɪrˌpɪr.sɪŋ skriːm/
:
grito ensordecedor
- Besides, just about everybody on that side of the store had stopped and turned to look, hoping to discover from where the ear-piercing scream had come.
Examples
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Communicated only in grunts, growls and ear-piercing screams.
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Ambulance after ambulance—there seemed to be hundreds—passed with ear-piercing screams, each tightening the faces of those who were walking because the buses had stopped running.
Fiction book (1998) -
As the roller coaster plummeted down the track, she let out an ear-piercing scream that echoed in the air.
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The horror movie was so frightening that the audience was filled with ear-piercing screams at every jump scare.
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When the child fell off the swing, his ear-piercing scream alerted his mother, who rushed to his side.
Synonyms
596
1.0
A loud high cry made when someone is afraid or hurt
58
3.3
A very loud high sound that hurts your ears
15
3.0
A loud, very high sound like a scream made by a person or animal
A long, very high sound that hurts the ears
A sudden very loud sound that startles people
Antonyms
How Loud
Surface Forms
Morphology
ear-piercing + scream
The phrase is compositionally built from 'ear' + 'piercing' and literally suggests a sound that 'pierces' the ear, i.e. extremely loud and high-pitched. This adjective+noun pattern is a transparent, predictable metaphorical extension found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Ear-piercing scream creates a clear picture: a sound so sharp it seems to go straight into your ear or even pierce it, making you flinch. That's why it means 'extremely loud and high-pitched' and uncomfortable to hear.