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Squirm vs Scream - What's the difference?

squirm | scream |

As verbs the difference between squirm and scream

is that squirm is to twist one’s body with snakelike motions while scream is to cry out with a shrill voice; to utter a sudden, sharp outcry, or shrill, loud cry, as in fright or extreme pain; to shriek; to screech.

As nouns the difference between squirm and scream

is that squirm is a twisting, snakelike movement of the body while scream is a loud, emphatic, exclamation of extreme emotion, usually horror, fear, excitement et cetera can be the exclamation of a word, but is usually a sustained, high-pitched vowel sound, particularly /æ/ or /i/.

squirm

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To twist one’s body with snakelike motions.
  • The prisoner managed to squirm out of the straitjacket.
  • * 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter IV
  • ...around us there had sprung up a perfect bedlam of screams and hisses and a seething caldron of hideous reptiles, devoid of fear and filled only with hunger and with rage. They clambered, squirmed and wriggled to the deck, forcing us steadily backward, though we emptied our pistols into them.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 1
  • "Throw it away, dear, do," she said, as they got into the road; but Jacob squirmed away from her...
  • To twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment.
  • I recounted the embarrassing story in detail just to watch him squirm .
  • * 2010 , , Questionable Content 1686: Twist in the Wind
  • MARIGOLD: Should I tell them I know?
    DORA: Nah, let ’em squirm . Let’s go get some pie.
  • To evade (a question, an interviewer etc).
  • (figuratively) To move in a slow, irregular motion.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=February 5 , author=Michael Kevin Darling , title=Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The Dutchman then missed a retaken second spot-kick, before the Trotters hit back when Daniel Sturridge's shot squirmed under Heurelho Gomes. }}

    Derived terms

    * squirmage * squirmish * squirmishness * squirmy

    Synonyms

    * (twist with snakelike motions) writhe, wriggle * (twist in discomfort) fidget

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A twisting, snakelike movement of the body.
  • scream

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A loud, emphatic, exclamation of extreme emotion, usually horror, fear, excitement et cetera. Can be the exclamation of a word, but is usually a sustained, high-pitched vowel sound, particularly /æ/ or /i/.
  • (music) A form of singing associated with the metal and screamo styles of music. It is a loud, rough, distorted version of the voice; rather than the normal voice of the singer.
  • (informal) (Used as an intensifier)
  • We had a real scream of a time at the beach.
  • *
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cry out with a shrill voice; to utter a sudden, sharp outcry, or shrill, loud cry, as in fright or extreme pain; to shriek; to screech.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.
  • To move quickly; to race.
  • ''He almost hit a pole, the way he came screaming down the hill.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Anagrams

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