screechers

pl. [Eng. screech; -ers.] Picarian birds as distinguished from birds that sing. screech-owl, s. A popular name for any owl whose voice is a harsh-sounding screech. [LICH screed screed, s. [A. S. scredde =ashred; Icel. skrjodhr; O. Dut. schroode. Screed and shred are doublets.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. A piece, a fragment, a shred. 2. The act of tearing or rending; a rent, a tear. 3. A piece of poetry or prose; a harangue, a long tirade. ( Scotch .) II. Plastering : 1. A strip of mortar, six to eight inches in width, and of the required thickne of the first coat, applied to the angles of a room or edge of a wall. They are laid on in parallel lines, at intervals of three to five feet, over the surface to be covered. When these have become sufficiently hard, the inter spaces between the screeds should be filled out flush with them, so as to produce a continuous and straight, even surface. 2. A wooden strip similarly placed. A screed of drink : A drinking bout, a carouse. (Scotch.) "Naething confuses me, unle it be a screed o' drink at an oration." -Scott: Guy Manner ing, ch. xxv. screēd, v. t. & i. [SCREED, 8.] A. Transitive: 1. To tear, to rend. IMG:content-1069.png:[blocks in formation] (Scotch.) B. In trans.: To tear. six mechanical powers, but is really only a modification of the inclined plane. A convex screw is *screeke, v . i. [SCREAK.]