▪ I. ˈsqueaking, vbl. n.
[f. squeak v.]
The action of emitting or producing a squeak or squeaks.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. v. 30 (Q.1), When you heare the drumme, And the vile squeaking of the wry-neckt Fife. 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. iii. xiv. (1712) 130 The squeaking and roaring of tortured Beasts. c 1680 in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 321 There was fine squeeking and squeeling for a minute or two. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1851) I. 336/2 The squeaking of a rat..[was] heard. 1786 F. Burney Diary 25 Dec., Now for the fiddlers!.. I..hear over and over again all that fine squeaking, and then fall fast asleep. 1820 Hazlitt Table-T. xxviii, There is a mighty bustle at the door, a gibbering and squeaking in the lobbies. 1855 Poultry Chron. III. 536 It will save an incredible amount of..squeaking, harsh grating, dismal creaking. |
▪ II. ˈsqueaking, ppl. a.
Also 6 sweaking.
[f. squeak v.]
1. a. Of the nature of a squeak or squeaks; characterized by squeaking.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 277 Among these people,..one..made a harsh squeaking noyse. 1592 Chettle Kindharts Dr. (1841) 15 The one in a sweaking treble, the other in an ale-blowen base. a 1704 T. Brown Praise Drunkenness Wks. 1730 I. 37 The drunkard's voice is hoarse and manly, not like the squeaking trils of an Eunuch. 1854 Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Social Aims Wks. (Bohn) III. 176 It seems to require several generations of education to train a squeaking..habit out of a man. |
b. Of the voice: Thin and shrill.
| 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 563 At an early period the voice was altered, and grew squeaking. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth viii, Said Dwining, with his squeaking voice. 1878 W. A. Wright Shaks. Jul. Cæsar Notes 141 That ghosts had thin and squeaking voices was a belief in the time of Homer. |
2. a. That squeaks; uttering squeaks.
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. ii. 220 And I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra Boy my greatnesse. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. v. viii. (1905) 368 Can squeaking reeds sound forth the organ's full delight. 1682 Dryden Medal 35 The loudest bagpipe of the squeaking train. c 1760 Smollett Burlesque Ode 26 The squeaking pigs her bounty own'd. 1763 Churchill Poems, Apol. Wks. 1767 I. 57 Italian fathers thus, with barb'rous rage, Fit helpless infants for the squeaking stage. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xiii. 106 The sound of a squeaking fiddle. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. iv. vii, A fanfaronading hollow Spectrum and squeaking and gibbering Shadow! |
b. squeaking sand, sand that gives out a short, high-pitched sound when disturbed.
| 1966 Sedimentology VI. 136 A ‘squeaking’ sand was found by the writer in Gower, S. Wales and this has been used for comparison with the ‘booming’ sand of the desert. 1976 Nature 5 Feb. 368/2 The most common of the musical sediments is probably squeaking (otherwise known as singing, barking or whistling) sand which produces a high frequency note in the range 500–2,500 Hz. |
Hence ˈsqueakingly adv.
| 1611 Cotgr., Greslement,..shrilly, or sq[u]eakingly. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, To Whine, to cry squeekingly, as at Conventicles. |