screech

noun

1. (countable)A high-pitched strident or piercing sound, such as that between a moving object and any surface.
2. (countable)A harsh, shrill cry, as of one in acute pain or in fright; a shriek; a scream.
3. (Newfoundland, uncountable)Newfoundland rum.
4. (uncountable)A form of home-made rye whiskey made from used oak rye barrels from a distillery.

verb

1. To make such a sound.

   “That the night owl should screech before the noonday sun, that the bat should wheel around the bad of beauty […]”

   “"Have you not met them?" "No, I have met nothing but three cormorants, which were sitting on a bit of drift-wood screeching."”

   “They said he had caused the fire in some way; be that as it may, he was screeching most horribly.”

   “The tide was out, and we drew up amid the strong bracing smell of seaweed, with gulls screeching, wheeling around, and gliding on the wind.”

   “AS THE residents of the quiet Midlothian housing estate prepared for the day ahead, the early-morning stillness was disturbed by the sound of screeching brakes and slamming doors.”

2. (figuratively, intransitive)To travel very fast, as if making the sound of a car that is driving too fast.

   “You've got to admire their balls. Real Madrid screeched after them: an entire herd, powerful and co-ordinated, salivating and breathing hard, murder in their eyes. So Barcelona moved the ball on, away from them. Forced back, it was played into Víctor Valdés, the goalkeeper, who slotted it to Carles Puyol, who gave it back again.”