| 释义 |
▪ I. scream, n.|skriːm|
In 6 Sc. screym, skreyme, 7 schreeme, 8 skream.
[f. scream v.]
a. A shrill piercing cry, usually expressive of pain, alarm, or other sudden emotion.
1605Shakes. Macb. ii. iii 61 And (as they say) lamentings heard i' th' Ayre; Strange Schreemes of Death. 1708Pope Ode on St. Cecilia's Day 57 Dreadful gleams, Dismal screams. 1820Shelley Prometheus i. 498 Oh, ye who shake hills with the scream of your mirth. 1842C. J. Apperley Life Sportsman ii. 33 His scream, or view-halloo, is, indeed, wonderful. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxxix, She dropped them with a scream of terror. 1877A. B. Edwards Up Nile xix. 563 It was a sharp, sudden scream, following a shot.
b. transf. Applied to the shrill cry of certain birds and beasts, and to any similar noise.
1513Douglas æneis xii. v. 76 And sone the other fowlis heich in the sky Turnit agane, with mony screym [ed. 1710 skreyme] and cry, To chais and to assail thar aduersair. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 14 The scream of a peacock. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. x, The eagles answer'd with their scream. 1849Alb. Smith Pottleton Legacy xvi. 138 The engine gave a shrill scream. 1855Tennyson Maud i. iii, Listening now to the tide.., Now to the scream of a madden'd beach dragg'd down by the wave.
c. A cause of laughter; a very amusing person or situation. colloq.
1888Boston Herald 24 Jan. 5/1 It [sc. ‘Bewitched’] is something more than a sketch, and a good deal less than a comedy, and its designation on the bill, ‘farcical scream’, perhaps conveys a good idea of its character. 1906H. Green At Actors' Boarding House 209, I thought I'd die laughing at his making love..and me with a husband doing his bit back in Auburn. It was a perfect scream, wasn't it, Kate? 1915Home Chat 9 Oct. 45/2 ‘He's married.’.. ‘It's a fact. His bailiff told our chauffeur... Isn't it a scream?’ 1919[see perfect a. B. 5 f]. 1929R. C. Sherriff Journey's End iii. ii. 71 Oh, skipper, you are a scream—and no mistake! 1946E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh (1947) i. 68 Listen, it was a scream. 1974Guardian 30 Jan. 11/1 Like the bearded lady, Lorna has curiosity value... ‘Yes, isn't it a scream?’ she says. 1977J. Fleming Every Inch a Lady iii. iv. 131 They're good... That Tommy Raffles is a scream!
d. The giving of information or evidence, spec. against one's accomplices in crime. slang.
1925E. Wallace Melody of Death vii. 113 ‘Look here, George,..is it a scream?’ ‘A scream?’ Mr. Wallis was puzzled innocence itself. ‘Will you turn King's evidence?’ said the other shortly.
e. An urgent message. slang.
1929‘Seamark’ Down River i. 21 ‘Smuggling?’ queried the surgeon. ‘That's the line, sir. Had a scream from Headquarters about it only this morning.’
f. Jazz. The sound produced when a high note is played loudly on a wind instrument. Also attrib.
1933Metronome Jan. 34 A scream is produced somewhat the same way as the rip, only in the rip the note is cut off shortly, but in the scream it is held. 1952B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1958) xxi. 275 The sustained scream notes. 1962Charters & Kunstadt Jazz: Hist. N.Y. Scene xvi. 200 Each section answering the other in ‘screams’ (chords) was the feature of ‘Tiger Rag’.
▪ II. scream, v.|skriːm|
Forms: 2 scræme, 3 screame, 4–5 screme, skreme, 7 schreame, 8 skreem, skream, 7– scream.
[Early ME. scræmen, screamen, schreamen, perh.:—OE. *scrǽman. Cf. mod.WFris. skrieme to weep (for the sense-development cf. weep, cry):—OFris. *skrêma. Early ME. sc may stand for either (sk) or |ʃ|; see the rare parallel form shream. In Shakespeare's schreame, schreeme (see scream n.) sch probably stands for |sk|, after the spelling of words of classical derivation.]
1. a. intr. To utter a shrill piercing cry, normally expressive of pain, alarm, mirth, or other sudden emotion. Also, to produce unpleasantly loud and shrill upper notes in singing. Also with out, away.
a1200Twelfth Cent. Hom. 128 Þær is ece eadiȝnesse; þær eald ne graneð, ne child ne scræmeð. c1230Hali Meid. 37 Þat wif..þat ihereð, hwen ha cumeð in, hire bearn screamen [MS. Bodl. schreamen]. c1325Pol. Songs (1839) 158 Heo biginnith to shryke ant scremeth anon. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 9998 A dredful dreme that lady dremed, That In hir sclepe sche cried & scremed. 1483Cath. Angl. 325/2 To screme. 1634Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 6 Others elder..guided these little ones, and sung, screaming, and squeaking, and straining their voices. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Scream or Scream out, to cry out, especially as one that is scar'd or frighted. 1707tr. Wks. C'tess D'Anois (1715) 374 She skreem'd, she skreek'd. 1775Johnson Tax. no Tyr. 4 These antipatriotic prejudices are the abortions of Folly impregnated by Faction... They are born only to scream and perish. 1782Cowper Mutual Forbearance 27 Yes, truly—one must scream and bawl—I tell you, you can't hear at all! 1821Scott Kenilw. xxxiii, ‘Nay, scream away if you like it,’ said he, still holding her fast. 1825Danneley Encycl. Mus., To Scream, is to sing in so loud a manner that the tones of the voice cannot be appreciated. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 311 She screamed for help.
b. Of certain birds and beasts: To emit their characteristic shrill cry.
c1340Nominale (Skeat) 747 Putois garit. Fulmarde scremyth. c1400Destr. Troy 910 A wonderfull noyse [the cry of the dragon] Skremyt vp to the skrow with a skryke ffelle. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. ii. 16, I heard the Owle schreame, and the Crickets cry. 1720Pope Iliad xvii. 529 So flies a Vulture thro' the clam'rous Train Of Geese, that scream, and scatter round the Plain. 1757Gray Bard 38 The famish'd Eagle screams, and passes by. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 87 A marmot screamed near me. 1894Hall Caine Manxman 415 Under the cliffs, where the sea-birds scream.
c. Of an inanimate thing: To make a noise like a scream; spec. to travel swiftly with a screaming noise; also hyperbolically and transf., of a person.
1784Cowper Task iv. 478 The fiddle screams Plaintive and piteous. 1792Wolcot (P. Pindar) Odes of Condolence Wks. 1794 III. 233 Wild screams the trumpet's brazen note so clear. 1827Scott Chron. Canongate iv, There it [the sign of an inn] hung, creaking, groaning, and screaming in every blast of wind. 1882F. W. H. Myers Renewal of Youth 138 Winds that screamed and storms that fled. 1886Corbett Fall of Asgard II. 159 The ships screamed and groaned,..as they ground together. 1943Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 57 Screaming downhill, making a power dive in a fighter aircraft. 1954Amer. Speech XXIX. 101 ‘It screams!’; i.e., it really moves. 1957P. Moore Science & Fiction 60 Airmen screaming towards the ground in a steep dive. 1975E. Hillary Nothing Venture, Nothing Win x. 155 We had discussed the..likelihood of no one getting to the South Col the next day and finally decided that Tenzing and I should scream up as a booster party to make sure that the Sherpas got there. 1976Wymondham & Attleborough Express 10 Dec. 24/4 Alan Green..unleashed a full-blooded volley from just inside the area that screamed into the top of the net. 1976A. White Long Silence vii. 53 One of the fighters [sc. planes] screamed down to take a closer look. 1981Economist 24 Jan. 97/2 A tenth of a second is about as long as a star falling into a black hole would be expected to ‘scream’.
d. quasi-trans. with complementary adv. or phr.
1801Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) I. x. 334 Bugles indeed we have; but it is only to scream us out of bed at five in the morning. 1862F. W. Robinson Owen iv. ix, If he stayed there by her side, she would scream the house down in a minute more.
e. To turn informer; to give evidence against one's accomplices. slang.
1925E. Wallace Melody of Death vii. 114, ‘I don't want to hear any more about your conscience,’ said the officer wearily. ‘Do you scream or don't you?’ ‘I don't scream,’ said Mr. Wallis emphatically. 1967J. Morgan Involved 114 He never got paid..and my information is he's ready to scream.
2. fig.
a. To express oneself angrily, excitedly, etc., in speech or writing.
[1775: see 1.] 1880G. A. Simcox in Macm. Mag. XLI. 401 The Bishop of Exeter ‘screamed’ at the idea of having to listen to the same speaker for two months. 1883Brit. Q. Rev. Oct. 445 ‘The Times’—..it screamed, it bullied, it worked itself up into a perfect whirlwind of wrath. 1890Spectator 7 June, We receive quite as many communications screaming at us for ‘insufferable complaisance’ towards Mr. Gladstone.
b. To cry out for.
1906E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands viii. 95 Ther job's simply screamin' fer a statesman iv your sort. 1930‘Sapper’ Finger of Fate 147 With every nerve in his body screaming for the stuff [sc. whisky]. 1978R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xi. 131 She did not walk; she glided—an extraordinary body screaming for observation as a prelude to invasion and satisfaction.
c. To communicate (something) strongly.
1957[see beddable a.].
d. to scream on (someone), to insult in ‘playing the dozens’ (see play v. 16 e). U.S. Blacks.
1970H. E. Roberts Third Ear 12/1 Screaming on, telling someone off;..embarrassing someone publicly. 1974H. L. Foster Ribbin', Jivin', & Playin' Dozens v. 198 Sometimes, ‘loud mouthing’ or ‘loud talking’, ‘sounding’, ‘screaming on someone’ or even ‘bogarding’ are synonyms for woofing.
3. trans. To utter with a scream. Also with out.
1710Steele Tatler No. 15 ⁋ 2 Clapping me on the Back and skreaming a Lullaby. 1823Byron Island iv. xiii, The sea-birds..screaming high their harsh and hungry dirge. 1836Dickens Sk. Boz, Streets—Night, Mrs. Macklin..has no sooner opened her little street-door, and screamed out ‘Muffins!’ with all her might, than [etc.]. 1866C. M. Yonge Dove in Eagle's Nest I. ix. 189 ‘Peace, thou fool!’ screamed the old lady. 1890Doyle White Company xxxi, Screaming out the doggerel lines which had long been the watchword of the Jacquerie. 1976B. Freemantle November Man x. 131 ‘The servants can't hear, Jocelyn,’ she screamed. |
