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Hoot vs Shriek - What's the difference?

hoot | shriek | Synonyms |

As nouns the difference between hoot and shriek

is that hoot is a derisive cry or shout while shriek is a sharp, shrill outcry or scream; a shrill wild cry such as is caused by sudden or extreme terror, pain, or the like.

As verbs the difference between hoot and shriek

is that hoot is to cry out or shout in contempt while shriek is 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.

hoot

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A derisive cry or shout.
  • The cry of an owl.
  • (US, slang) A fun event or person. (See hootenanny)
  • A small particle
  • * 1878 , John Hanson Beadle, Western Wilds, and the Men who Redeem Them , page 611, Jones Brothers, 1878
    • Well, it was Sunday morning, and the wheat nothing like ripe; but it was a chance, and I got onto my reaper and banged down every hoot of it before Monday night.

    Usage notes

    * (small particle) The term is nearly always encountered in a negative sense in such phrases as don't care a hoot'' or ''don't give two hoots . * (derisive cry) The phrase a hoot and a holler'' has a very different meaning to ''hoot and holler''. The former is a short distance, the latter is a verb of ''derisive cry .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cry out or shout in contempt.
  • * Dryden
    • Matrons and girls shall hoot at thee no more.
  • To make the cry of an owl.
  • * Shakespeare
    • the clamorous owl that nightly hoots
  • To assail with contemptuous cries or shouts; to follow with derisive shouts.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • Partridge and his clan may hoot me for a cheat.

    See also

    * hooter * hootenanny

    Anagrams

    * ----

    shriek

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A sharp, shrill outcry or scream; a shrill wild cry such as is caused by sudden or extreme terror, pain, or the like.
  • * Dryden
    • Shrieks , clamours, murmurs, fill the frighted town.
  • * 1912 : (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 5
    • Sabor, the lioness, was a wise hunter. To one less wise the wild alarm of her fierce cry as she sprang would have seemed a foolish thing, for could she not more surely have fallen upon her victims had she but quietly leaped without that loud shriek ?
  • (UK) (slang) An exclamation mark.

    • Verb

  • 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.
  • * Shakespeare
    • It was the owl that shrieked .
  • * Dryden
    • At this she shrieked aloud; the mournful train / Echoed her grief.
  • To utter sharply and shrilly; to utter in or with a shriek or shrieks.
  • * Spenser
    • The ghostly owl, shrieking his baleful note.
  • * Moore
    • She shrieked his name to the dark woods.

    Anagrams

    * *