Word.ws English Dictionary

squeal

UK/skwiːl/US/skwil/

squeal noun: a high-pitched sound, such as the scream of a child or a female person, or noisy worn-down brake pads.

Noun

squeal (plural squeals)

  1. A high-pitched sound, such as the scream of a child or a female person, or noisy worn-down brake pads.
  2. The cry of a pig.

Verb

squeal (third-person singular simple present squeals, present participle squealing, simple past and past participle squealed)

  1. (ambitransitive) To scream with a shrill, prolonged sound.
    • The children squealed with delight while opening their Christmas presents.
  2. To make a squealing noise. (of an object)
    • The brakes squeal terribly.
    • We continue through suburban Newcastle along the edge of the Tyne, before squealing around the tight curves onto the magnificent High Level bridge, which affords glorious views across Newcastle and along the river before arriving at journey's end.2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 75
  3. (intransitive, slang) To give sensitive information about someone to a third party; to rat on someone.
    • You'd better not squeal on me to the cops.
    Synonyms:
    inform

squeal meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

squeal in Tamil

ஊளை, கீச்சொலி

squeal in Marathi

to squeal, squeak
किंचाळणे kiñcāḷṇe

squeal in Urdu

چیخ, چیخنا

squeal in Bengali

তীক্ষ্ণ চিৎকার করা
More languagesFewer languages
squeal in Malayalam
നിലവിളി, മോങ്ങൽ, കരച്ചിൽ, മുറയിടൽ

Examples of squeal in a sentence

  • We use 'em from the rooter to the tooter — everything but the squeal!
  • At last, the whale stopped squealing and with a final flip of its tail, became still.
  • The self-proclaimed fanpires gawked, squealed and begged for autographs and photos with the stars.

All 40 example sentences with squeal

Synonyms of squeal

Forms of squeal

Noun
pluralsqueals
Verb
third-person singular presentsqueals
present participlesquealing
past participlesquealed
pastsquealed

Past tense of squeal: squealed

Plural of squeal: squeals

Origin of squeal

Inherited from Middle English squelen, probably from Old Norse skvala (“to squeal, bawl”), from Proto-Germanic *skwel- (“to chatter, babble, scream”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *skel-, from *kelh₁- (“to ring, resound, cry”). Compare Old Norse skval (“a squeal”, noun), Swedish skvallra (“to babble, chatter, tell on”).

Words formed from squeal

Words that rhyme with squeal

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about squeal

What does squeal mean?
Squeal means a high-pitched sound, such as the scream of a child or a female person, or noisy worn-down brake pads.
What is squeal in Tamil?
Squeal in Tamil is ஊளை, கீச்சொலி. See Squeal meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is squeal?
Squeal can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce squeal?
Squeal is pronounced /skwiːl/ (UK).
What is the plural of squeal?
The plural of squeal is squeals.

Words near squeal in the dictionary

  1. squeaky wheel systems
  2. squeaky wheels
  3. squeaky wheels get oiled
  4. squeaky-clean
  5. squeakyish
  6. squeal
  7. squeal like a stuck pig
  8. squeal on
  9. squeald
  10. squealdom
  11. squealed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: squeal (page history and authors); squeal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); किंचाळणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); squeal (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); squeal (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); squeal (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-squeal.ogg.

Cite this entry: “squeal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/squeal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.