different between shrill vs skirling

English

Etymology

From Late Middle English schrille, shirle, shrille (“of a sound: high-pitched, piercing; producing such a sound”), possibly from the earlier shil, schille (“loud, resounding; high-pitched, shrill; audible, clear; melodious, sweet-sounding”), from Old English scill (“sonorous sounding”), of Germanic origin. The r in the word was introduced by analogy to Middle English skr?ke, skr?ken, scr?men, possibly to avoid confusion with non-Anglian forms of schelle (modern English shell) where Old English scill (“sonorous sounding”) and scill (“shell”) existed.

The word is cognate with Icelandic skella (“crash, bang, slam”), Low German schrell (“sharp in taste or tone”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /???l/
• Rhymes: -?l

Adjective

shrill (comparative shriller, superlative shrillest)

1. High-pitched and piercing.
2. Having a shrill voice.
3. Sharp or keen to the senses.
4. (figuratively, derogatory, especially of a complaint or demand) Fierce, loud, strident.

Coordinate terms

• garish
• strident

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

shrill (third-person singular simple present shrills, present participle shrilling, simple past and past participle shrilled)

1. To make a shrill noise.

Derived terms

• outshrill
• shrilling
• shrillingly

Translations

Noun

shrill (plural shrills)

1. A shrill sound.

Translations

References

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?sk??l??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?sk?l??/

Verb

skirling

1. present participle of skirl

Noun

skirling (plural skirlings)

1. (Britain, dialect) A small trout or salmon.
2. (Northern England and Scotland) A shrill cry or sound; a crying shrilly; a skirl.
   • 1885, Juliana Horatia Ewing, The Story of a Short Life

     When the skirling of the pipes cleft the air his cold eyes softened.

References

• skirling in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• "skirling" in On-line Medical Dictionary, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1997–2005.