Library / English Dictionary

SQUEAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A high-pitched howl

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("squeal" is a kind of...):

howl (a loud sustained noise resembling the cry of a hound)

Derivation:

squeal (utter a high-pitched cry, characteristic of pigs)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure

Synonyms:

confess; fink; squeal

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "squeal" is one way to...):

acknowledge; admit (declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

squealer (one who reveals confidential information in return for money)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Utter a high-pitched cry, characteristic of pigs

Synonyms:

oink; squeal

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "squeal" is one way to...):

emit; let loose; let out; utter (express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

You can hear animals squeal in the meadows

The meadows squeal with animals

Derivation:

squeal (a high-pitched howl)

squealer (domestic swine)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Everything had happened at once—the blow, the counter-blow, the squeal of agony from the porcupine, the big cat's squall of sudden hurt and astonishment.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

But the porcupine, squealing and grunting, with disrupted anatomy trying feebly to roll up into its ball-protection, flicked out its tail again, and again the big cat squalled with hurt and astonishment.

(White Fang, by Jack London)