Screechers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term referring to individuals or animals that emit loud, piercing sounds or cries; it can describe those who scream or shout in distress or excitement; it may also relate to anything known for producing a shrill noise frequently and insistently
2. A descriptive label for people or creatures that make high-pitched, alarming noises; it applies to those who are often loud in expressing emotion, particularly fear or anger; it can also pertain to machinery that generates harsh, screeching sounds
3. Denoting entities that are characterized by their ability to produce loud, discordant sounds, often in a frightening or unsolicited manner; it includes those who vocally express themselves in overpowering ways; it may also refer to auditory alarms that create unsettling, shrill alerts

Etymology: Screechers is simply the plural of "screecher," and the word it is built on is "screech," which is far older than the suffix. The base has a Middle English history of its own, and the ending is the familiar agentive "-er," the same one found in "singer" or "driver." A screecher is therefore a thing or creature that screeches, so the plural names a group of such things at once. The "-er" ending has a longer ancestry. It descends through Old English "-ere," which itself traces back through Proto-Germanic to Latin "-arius," a suffix meaning "one connected with" or "one who does." Old French took the Latin form as "-ier," and English later borrowed the sense, so the suffix arrived by a roundabout route rather than from Latin directly.

Synonyms: screamers, yelpers, squealers, shouters, squeakers

Antonyms: whisperers, murmurers, quiet ones, silencers, hushers