different between exclaim vs squawk

English

Alternative forms

• exclame [16th-17th c.]

Etymology

From Middle French exclamer, from Latin excl?m?, excl?m?re (“call out”), from ex- + cl?m? (“to call”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?skle?m/, /?k?skle?m/
• Rhymes: -e?m

Verb

exclaim (third-person singular simple present exclaims, present participle exclaiming, simple past and past participle exclaimed)

1. (intransitive) To cry out suddenly, from some strong emotion.
   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act V, Scene 3,^[1]

     I am a soldier, and unapt to weep,

     Or to exclaim on fortune’s fickleness.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Dublin: John Smith, Volume 1, Book 1, Chapter 9, p. 33,^[2]

     Very grave and good Women exclaimed against Men who begot Children and then disowned them.

   • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, Chapter 12,^[3]

     This wretched note was the finale of Emma’s breakfast. When once it had been read, there was no doing any thing, but lament and exclaim.

   • 1925, Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985, p. 114,^[4]

     […] he could remember Sally tearing off a rose, stopping to exclaim at the beauty of the cabbage leaves in the moonlight […]

   • 2011, Alan Hollinghurst, The Stranger’s Child, New York: Knopf, Part 4, Chapter 1, p. 285,^[5]

     […] at the front door below a few guests were leaving, and the bright rectangle widened and narrowed as they slipped out into the night, laughing and exclaiming about the weather.

2. (transitive) To say suddenly and with strong emotion.
   • 1603, Michael Drayton, The Barrons Wars in the Raigne of Edward the Second, London: N. Ling, “Alice Countesse of Salisburie, to the blacke Prince,” p. 31,^[6]

     Must she be forc’d, t’exclaime th’iniurious wrong?

     Offred by him, whom she hath lou’d so long?

     Nay, I will tell, and I durst almost sweare,

     Edward will blush, when he his fault shall heare.

   • 1748, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Roderick Random, London: J. Osborn, Volume 2, Chapter 40, p. 28,^[7]

     […] her aunt, after having stared at me a good while with a look of amazement, exclaimed, “In the name of heaven! Who art thou?”—

   • 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, Chapter 12,^[8]

     Without returning any direct reply, Miss Squeers, all at once, fell into a paroxysm of spiteful tears, and exclaimed that she was a wretched, neglected, miserable castaway.

   • “Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better. […]”

   • 2017, André Aciman, Enigma Variations, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, “Manfred,” p. 135,^[9]

     You never pump your arm when you score, you never exclaim anything, you don’t even smile when you fire a perfect backhand straight down the line.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:shout

Derived terms

• exclaimer

Related terms

Translations

Noun

exclaim (plural exclaims)

1. (obsolete) Exclamation; outcry, clamor.
   • c. 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard II, Act I, Scene 2,^[10]

     Foul devil, for God’s sake, hence, and trouble us not;

     For thou hast made the happy earth thy hell,

     Fill’d it with cursing cries and deep exclaims.

   • 1635, John Donne, “His parting form her”:

     Oh fortune, thou’rt not worth my least exclame [...].

English

Etymology

Unknown [from 1821], but probably of imitative origin (compare dialectal Italian squacco (“small-crested heron”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skw??k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Noun

squawk (plural squawks)

1. A shrill noise, especially made by a voice or bird; a yell, scream, or call.
2. (aviation) A four-digit transponder code used by aircraft for identification or transmission of emergency signals.
3. (informal) A complaint or objection.
   • 1983, Stephen King, Uncle Otto's Truck

     That was the last roundup for McCutcheon’s Cresswell; it never moved from that field again. Not that there was any squawk from the landlord; the two of them owned it, of course.

4. (aviation) An issue or complaint related to aircraft maintenance.
   • 1969, American Aviation (volume 32)

     We think instructors should stress the importance of writeups on all maintenance squawks after the completion of each flight. More important, something should be done by the aircraft operator to correct such squawks.

5. The American night heron.
6. (programming, informal) A warning message indicating a possible error.

Translations

Verb

squawk (third-person singular simple present squawks, present participle squawking, simple past and past participle squawked)

1. To make a squawking noise; to yell, scream, or call out shrilly.

   • The hens woke up squawking with terror because they had all dreamed simultaneously of hearing a gun go off in the distance.

2. (slang, intransitive) To speak out; to protest.
3. (slang, intransitive) To report an infraction; to rat on or tattle; to disclose a secret.
   • 1948, Andrew Geer, The Sea Chase (page 68)

     "I'll slit your throat if you squawk on us," Krantz threatened.

4. (programming, intransitive, informal) To produce a warning message, indicating a possible error.
   • 2013, Bill Sempf, Chuck Sphar, Stephen R. Davis, C# 5.0 All-in-One For Dummies

     You want the compiler to squawk if you try to instantiate for a type that doesn't implement IPrioritizable.

5. (aviation) To set or transmit a four-digit transponder code. (Normally followed by the specific code in question.)
6. (US, slang, dated) To back out in a mean way.

Conjugation

Translations