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Rattle vs Screech - What's the difference?

rattle | screech |

As nouns the difference between rattle and screech

is that rattle is (onomatopoeia) a sound made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another while screech is a high-pitched strident or piercing sound, such as that between a moving object and any surface.

As verbs the difference between rattle and screech

is that rattle is (ergative) to create a rattling sound by shaking or striking while screech is to make such a sound.

rattle

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (onomatopoeia) a sound made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another.
    • I wish they would fix the rattle under my dashboard.
  • * Prior
    • The rattle of a drum.
  • A baby's toy designed to make sound when shaken, usually containing loose grains or pellets in a hollow container.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Pleased with a rattle , tickled with a straw.
  • A device that makes a rattling sound such as put on an animal so its location can be heard.
  • A musical instrument that makes a rattling sound.
  • * Sir Walter Raleigh
    • The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other.
  • (dated) Noisy, rapid talk.
  • * Hakewill
    • All this ado about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceit.
  • (dated) A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer.
  • * Macaulay
    • It may seem strange that a man who wrote with so much perspicuity, vivacity, and grace, should have been, whenever he took a part in conversation, an empty, noisy, blundering rattle .
  • A scolding; a sharp rebuke.
    • (Heylin)
  • (zoology) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a rattling sound.
    • The rattle of the rattlesnake is composed of the hardened terminal scales, loosened in succession, but not cast off, and modified in form so as to make a series of loose, hollow joints.
  • The noise in the throat produced by the air in passing through mucus which the lungs are unable to expel; death rattle.

    • Derived terms

    * rattlesnake * spring a rattle * yellow rattle (plant)

    Verb

    (rattl)
  • (ergative) To create a rattling sound by shaking or striking.
    • to rattle a chain
    Rattle the can of cat treats if you need to find Fluffy.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=February 5 , author=Michael Kevin Darling , title=Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=It was a deflating end to the drama for the hosts and they appeared ruffled, with Bolton going close to a leveller when Johan Elmander rattled the bar with a header from Matt Taylor's cross.}}
  • (informal) To scare, startle, unsettle, or unnerve.
  • *
    • "Tut!" said old Bittlesham. "Tut is right," I agreed. Then the rumminess of the thing struck me. "But if you haven't dropped a parcel over the race," I said, "why are you looking so rattled ?"
  • * 2014 , Richard Rae, " Manchester United humbled by MK Dons after Will Grigg hits double", The Guardian , 26 August 2014:
    • That United were rattled , mentally as well as at times physically – legitimately so – was beyond question. Nick Powell clipped a crisp drive a foot over the bar, but otherwise Milton Keynes had the best of the remainder of the first half.
  • To make a rattling noise; to make noise by or from shaking.
    • ''I wish the dashboard in my car would quit rattling .
  • (obsolete) To assail, annoy, or stun with a ratting noise.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Sound but another [drum], and another shall / As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear.
  • (obsolete) To scold; to rail at.
    • (rfquotek, L'Estrange)
  • To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering.
    • We rattled along for a couple of miles.
  • To make a clatter with a voice; to talk rapidly and idly; with on'' or ''away .
    • She rattled on for an hour.

    Derived terms

    * death rattle * rattler * rattlesnake * rattle off * rattle one's nerves * rattle one's hocks * rattle someone's cage * rattle trap * sabre-rattling

    See also

    * jingle

    Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs

    screech

    English

    Noun

  • A high-pitched strident or piercing sound, such as that between a moving object and any surface.
  • A harsh, shrill cry, as of one in acute pain or in fright; a shriek; a scream.
  • (qualifier) Newfoundland rum.
  • A form of home-made rye whiskey made from used oak rye barrels from a distillery.

    • Derived terms

    * screech bird * screecher * screech hawk * screech owl

    Verb

    (es)
  • To make such a sound.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2004 , date=April 15 , author= , title=Morning swoop in hunt for Jodi's killer , work=The Scotsman citation , page= , passage=AS THE residents of the quiet Midlothian housing estate prepared for the day ahead, the early-morning stillness was disturbed by the sound of screeching brakes and slamming doors.}}
  • (figuratively) to travel very fast, as if making the sounds of brakes being released
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=December 12 , author=Sid Lowe , title=Víctor Valdés epitomises Barcelona's bravery as Real Madrid falter , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=You've got to admire their balls. Real Madrid screeched after them: an entire herd, powerful and co-ordinated, salivating and breathing hard, murder in their eyes. So Barcelona moved the ball on, away from them. Forced back, it was played into Víctor Valdés, the goalkeeper, who slotted it to Carles Puyol, who gave it back again. }}

    Anagrams

    * Canadian English