squeak
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A short, high-pitched sound, as of two objects rubbing together, or the sounds made by mice and other small animals.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skweekIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskwik
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
countable
A short, high-pitched sound, as of two objects rubbing together, or the sounds made by mice and other small animals.
A short high-pitched noise
“The squeak of shoes on powdery snow.”
Something achieved (or escaped) by a narrow margin
countableslang
A narrow squeak.
verb
Make a high-pitched, screeching noise
intransitive
To emit a short, high-pitched sound.
transitive
To speak or sound in a high-pitched manner.
intransitiveslang
To inform, to squeal.
intransitiveinformal
To win or progress by a narrow margin.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A short, high-pitched sound, as of two objects rubbing together, or the sounds made by mice and other small animals.
Used this way, squeak is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use squeak
- “The squeak of shoes on powdery snow.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Manage one's existence barely.
Escape.
Leftover cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and sometimes meat.
Someone who is small and insignificant.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: short or high-pitched sound
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.