squawked

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.1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC
2. (intransitive, slang) To speak out; to protest.
3. (intransitive, slang) To report an infraction; to rat on or tattle; to disclose a secret.
   • "I'll slit your throat if you squawk on us," Krantz threatened.1948, Andrew Geer, The Sea Chase, page 68
4. (informal, intransitive) To produce a warning message, indicating a possible error.
   • That way, if you type = instead of ==, the compiler will squawk because you can't assign something to a constant.1993, Steve Maguire, Writing Solid Code
5. To set or transmit a four-digit transponder code. (Normally followed by the specific code in question.)
   • After discovering that the hydraulic system is faulty, the pilots squawked 7700 and declared mayday.
6. (US, dated, slang) To back out in a mean way.

See all 12 meanings of squawk