MEANING
1. To make a loud, harsh, sharp cry, especially as a bird.
2. To utter a loud, sharp, unpleasant cry or shout.
3. To protest or complain noisily in a way that draws attention.
Use it for
describing a harsh bird call; breaking a quiet scene with a sudden animal cry; giving a flock a noisy, discordant presenceLinks a sharp birdlike cry with a human outburst, while separating the sound from the act of complaining. Writing functions: Sound / Sharp protest.
Words that belong together
- a parrot squawks
- a piercing squawk
- a squawk of alarm
On the page
A parrot squawked from somewhere behind the shuttered shop.
The silence broke under a single harsh squawk from the reeds.
He squawked in surprise when the cold water reached his collar.
“That is my seat,” she squawked, louder than she had intended.
The tenants squawked about the extra charge until the manager agreed to explain it.
Word forms
- Base
- squawk
- Past tense
- squawked
- Past participle
- squawked
- Present participle
- squawking
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- squawk
- Present continuous
- am/is/are squawking
- Present perfect
- have/has squawked
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been squawking
- Past
- squawked
- Past continuous
- was/were squawking
- Past perfect
- had squawked
- Past perfect continuous
- had been squawking
- Future
- will squawk
- Future continuous
- will be squawking
- Future perfect
- will have squawked
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been squawking
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Verb and countable noun. Verb: squawk; squawks; squawked; squawked; squawking. Noun plural: squawks. Future: will squawk. Human complaint uses are informal and often disapproving. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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