Travel and Adventure
Words for crying out
Learn the family of words for crying out, and how they differ.
The poem says the whistle is shrieking. English has a whole family of words for crying out, and no two mean the same. What separates them is why the sound is made and how loud it is:
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| yelling | shouting loudly, often in anger or excitement, usually at someone |
| screaming | crying out in fear or excitement: louder and higher, not aimed at anyone |
| wailing | crying loudly with grief or sorrow (remember Jahnavi in Unit 1?) |
| screeching | a high, piercing sound: brakes, a parrot, not always a person |
| hollering | calling loudly in a casual, friendly way, to get attention |
| whimpering | crying softly, in a low, broken voice |
| bawling | crying loudly and uncontrollably, like a small child |
Hear them all in one street: "A shopkeeper was hollering to attract customers, while a child nearby was yelling at his friend to wait. A toddler was bawling after dropping his ice cream, and he began whimpering softly as his mother calmed him. In the background, someone's loud screeching voice added to the evening's noise."
Quick memory trick: yelling = anger, screaming = fear, wailing = grief, whimpering = soft and broken, bawling = helpless.
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