screed
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screed¹
- /skɹiːd/ Ireland, UK
- /skɹid/ US, Scotland
Rhymes with -iːd
Where it comes from
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.
noun screeds
- A piece of writing (such as an article, letter, or list) or a speech, especially if long. Eh, Mr Henry! but the carle gae him a screed o' doctrine! Ye might hae heard him a mile down the wind—He routed like a cow in a fremd loaning.
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A speech or piece of writing which contains angry and extended criticism.
When he [Herman Melville] had finished the first part of his novel [Pierre; or, The Ambiguities], and printed it, the publishers would have nothing to do with it. They claimed they had been deluded into accepting a villainous and blasphemous screed against religion and morality and all right living.
Similar: harangue, polemic, rant, tirade, diatribe, admonition, condemnation, dithyramb, impugnation, j'accuse, jeremiad, philippic
- Chiefly in the plural form screeds: a large quantity. It uses a lot of footage of Japanese actors, and screeds of character text, making it unlikely to see a European release.
- 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. When applied to large surfaces, strips or screeds of wood should be fixed to float from; and when the plain surface is formed, it is finished with the handfloat.
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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.
The screeds and vibrator on the machine finisher are set to give the proper surface elevation and produce a dense concrete. In most cases, there should be a sufficiently thick layer of mortar ahead of the screed to insure that all low spots will be filled. The vibrator follows the front screed and t
Similar: strickle
- A smooth, flat layer of concrete, plaster, or similar material, especially if acting as a base for paving stones, tiles, wooden planks, etc. [T]wo workmen, provided with a tub of putty and a quantity of plaster of Paris, proceed to run the cornice. Before using the mould, they gauge a screed of putty and plaster upon the wall and ceiling, covering so much of each as will correspond with the top and bottom of the intended cornice. On this
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A piece or narrow strip cut or torn off from a larger whole; a shred.
"Weel done!" cried Mrs. Smith. "I trow ye gae her a screed o' your mind!"
Similar: scrid
- A piece of land, especially one that is narrow. And it be further Enacted, That in all Caſes where any of the Lands and Grounds by this Act intended to be divided and incloſed ſhall adjoin on any Freeboard, Screed, or Parcel of Land left on the Outſide of the Fences of any adjoining Pariſh, Townſhip, or Place, which ſhall run into any of the Land
- A rent, a tear. Yet when a tale comes i' my head, / Or laſſes gie my heart a ſcreed, / As whiles they're like to be my dead, / (O ſad diſeaſe!) / I kittle up my ruſtic reed; / It gies me ease.
screed²
- /skɹiːd/ Ireland, UK
- /skɹid/ US, Scotland
Rhymes with -iːd
Where it comes from
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.
verb screeds · screeding · screeded
- To rend, to shred, to tear. It's no very like the land o' the leal here—d'ye think it is?—wi' this cauld soakit sand anaith ye, and you in thae screeded duds, and us twa in our sark sleeves. [Footnote: Land o' the leal, land of the faithful—heaven. Screeded duds, torn rags. Sark sleeves, shirt sleeves.]
- To read or repeat from memory fluently or glibly; to reel off. He'll ſcreed you aff Effectual Calling, / As faſt as ony in the dwalling.— [...]
- 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. For this surfacing, the concrete is screeded and then covered with crushed red granite of 2- to 2½-in. size which is spread with shovels on the wet concrete, the quantity averaging about 55 lb. of stone per square yard.
- To become rent or torn. [H]ad I been in ony o' your rotten French camlets now, or your drab-de-berries, it would hae screeded like an auld rag wi' sic a weight as mine.
screed³
- /skɹiːd/ Ireland, UK
- /skɹid/ US, Scotland
Rhymes with -iːd
Where it comes from
Probably imitative; compare screech, skreigh.
noun screeds
- A (discordant) sound or tune played on bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe. "Wi' hat in hand," sweet lass, quo I, / "Wer't in my power to sooth thy sigh, / My hame-bor'd whistle I wad try, / An' gie't a screed, / Atween whar Tiviot murmurs by, / An' bonny Tweed."
- The sound of something scratching or tearing. Right o'er the ſteep he leans, / When his well-pleniſh'd king-hood voiding needs; / And, ſploiting, ſtrikes the ſtane his grany hit, / Wi' piſtol ſcreed, ſhot frae his gorlin doup.— [...]
verb screeds · screeding · screeded
- To play bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe. [T]wa Cheels we White Sarks, and a wee Wean with a white Sark got aboon whar the Whiſtle-Pipes war, the yen lilted, and the other Skirled and Screeded till them, and ſtill I ſweeted, I thought they never wad hea done.
- To make a discordant or harsh scratching or tearing sound.
- To play (a sound or tune) on bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe. In life's gay morn, or youthfu' prime, / Ere fancy droops her wing, / Screed up your reed, for that's the time / For bards to rant and sing; [...]
screed⁴
- /skɹiːd/ Ireland, UK
- /skɹid/ US, Scotland
Rhymes with -iːd
Where it comes from
From scree (“loose, stony debris”) + -ed.
adjective
- Strewn with scree. We clambered up a screed slope.
Translations
Every language
noun speech or piece of writing which contains angry and extended criticism — see also diatribe, harangue
| Español | catilinaria, diatriba, filípica |
|---|---|
| Français | diatribe, harangue, litanie, tirade |
| Deutsch | Pamphlet, Schmähschrift, Tirade |
| Italiano | panegirico |
noun tool drawn over a wet layer to make it smooth and flat; machine that achieves this effect
| Deutsch | Abziehlatte, Kartätsche |
|---|
noun smooth, flat layer of concrete, plaster, or similar material
| Español | losa, contrapiso |
|---|---|
| Português | contrapiso |
| Français | chape |
| Deutsch | Estrich |
| Italiano | massetto |
| Русский | стя́жка по́ла stjážka póla |
verb to use a screed to produce a smooth, flat surface
| Français | araser |
|---|
Talk about this word "screed." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/screed. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. screed. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/screed "screed." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/screed.Cite this
@misc{screed_2026,
title = {screed},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/screed},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
