screed
UK /skɹiːd/ · US /skɹid/ noun, verb, adjective
Also a form of scree
Forms screeds screeding screeded
- noun A piece of writing (such as an article, letter, or list) or a speech, especially if long.
- noun (by extension) A speech or piece of writing which contains angry and extended criticism.
- noun Chiefly in the plural form screeds: a large quantity.
- noun A tool, usually a long strip of wood or other material, placed on a floor to be covered with concrete, a wall to be plastered, etc., as a guide for producing a smooth, flat surface.
- noun A tool such as a long strip of wood or other material which is drawn over a wet layer of concrete, plaster, etc., to make it smooth and flat; also, a machine that achieves this effect; a screeder.
- noun A smooth, flat layer of concrete, plaster, or similar material, especially if acting as a base for paving stones, tiles, wooden planks, etc.
- noun (chiefly Ireland, Newfoundland, Scotland, dated) A piece or narrow strip cut or torn off from a larger whole; a shred.
- noun (chiefly regional UK, Scotland, dated) A piece of land, especially one that is narrow.
- verb (transitive, chiefly Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, dated) To rend, to shred, to tear.
- verb (transitive, Scotland, also figurative, dated) To read or repeat from memory fluently or glibly; to reel off.
- verb (transitive, construction, masonry) To use a screed to produce a smooth, flat surface of concrete, plaster, or similar material; also (generally) to put down a layer of concrete, plaster, etc.
- verb (intransitive, Scotland) To become rent or torn.
- noun (chiefly humorous) A (discordant) sound or tune played on bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe.
- noun The sound of something scratching or tearing.
- verb (intransitive, chiefly humorous) To play bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe.
- verb (intransitive) To make a discordant or harsh scratching or tearing sound.
- verb (transitive, chiefly humorous, obsolete) To play (a sound or tune) on bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe.
- adjective Strewn with scree. “We clambered up a screed slope.”
Synonyms
harangue polemic rant tirade diatribe admonition condemnation dithyramb impugnation j'accuse jeremiad philippic slanging match strickle scrid cut rip
Etymology
From Middle English screde [and other forms], a variant of shrede (“fragment, scrap; strip of cloth; strip cut off from a larger piece; band or thread woven into fabric; element, streak”) (whence shred (noun)), from Old English sċrēad, sċrēade (“a piece cut off; paring, shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō (“a piece, shred; a cut, crack”), from *skraudaną (“to cut up, shred”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”). The English word is cognate with Old Frisian skrēd. Doublet of escrow, scroll, and shred.
From Middle English screde, Early Middle English screda, a variant of shreden, shrede (“to chop, cut up, hack; to cut to shape; to maim, wound; to prune, trim”) [and other forms] (whence shred (verb)), from Old English scrēadian (“to cut up, shred; to cut off, prune”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudaną (“to cut up, shred”), see further at etymology 1; later uses are derived from the noun screed.
Probably imitative; compare screech, skreigh.
From scree (“loose, stony debris”) + -ed.
Webster’s 1913
- noun (a) A strip of plaster of the thickness proposed for the coat, applied to the wall at intervals of four or five feet, as a guide.
- noun A fragment; a portion; a shred. [Scot.]
- noun A breach or rent; a breaking forth into a loud, shrill sound; as, martial screeds.
- noun An harangue; a long tirade on any subject.
Etymology [Prov. E., a shred, the border of a cap. See Shred.]
Etymology [See 1st Screed. For sense 2 cf. also Gael. sgread an outcry.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “screed”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details