Word: screamer Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree English scream Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English screamer From scream + -er. Pronunciation: /ˈskɹimɚ/, /ˈskɹiːmə/ 1. One who screams; one who shouts; one who sings harshly. Example: 'Don't be frightened, mistress,' said Quilp, after a pause. 'Your son knows me; I don't eat babies; I don't like 'em. It will be as well to stop that young screamer though, in case I should be tempted to do him a mischief. Holloa, sir! Will you be quiet?' Example: He stood almost appalled for a moment, as he said to himself that she would take her up and the girl would be ruined, would force her note and become a screamer. 2. Any bird in the taxonomic family Anhimidae, endemic to South America, being large, bulky birds with a small downy head, long legs and large feet. 3. A healthy, vigorous animal. Labels: US, obsolete Example: I had seen the track of the bear they were after, and I knowed he was a screamer. 4. A healthy, vigorous person. 5. Something exceptionally good. Example: "[…]I do not judge hastily, Alec, for I have read a dozen, at least, of these stories, and, with much that is attractive to boys, I find a great deal to condemn in them, and other parents say the same when I ask them." "Now, Mum, that's too bad! I like 'em tip-top. This one is a regular screamer," cried Will. 6. A difficult catch. Example: But then he came around the wicket again, I slashed at one, and Strauss, at full stretch diving to his left at second slip, took an absolute screamer. It was the catch of the summer, and it happened to me. 7. A very hard hit. Example: His screamer into the right field bleachers in the sixth with Scarborough and Viau on base put Hickory out in front 9 to 8 and the lead held for the rest of the game. 8. A particularly high mark (clean catch of a kicked ball). Example: Virtually every other facet of the game is shared by other sports, but the sight of a player taking a fingertip ‘screamer’ whilst perched on the shoulders of an opponent is unique to footy, and players who perfect this ability are among the code’s most celebrated and well remembered. 9. A powerful shot. Example: Kasper Schmeichel brilliantly denied Marouane Chamakh before Bacary Sagna thumped home a second, though Bradley Johnson's screamer halved the deficit. 10. A very large wave. Example: That set the pattern for us both. Catch a screamer, work it hard for as long as you could, then drop back over the shoulder and paddle back out to the line-up. 11. A march played at a circus to enliven the crowd. 12. A video that unexpectedly frightens the viewer by cutting to a loud scream and disturbing image. Labels: Internet Example: The Web is also big business; who needs a real job when you can just send Grandma a screamer and—POOF!—there's your inheritance. 13. An effeminate gay man; a man who is obviously homosexual. Labels: slang Example: Well, this friend was a real effeminate person—[he] was just a screamer. […] Well even my brother was smart enough to realize they were gay. Example: So when George Michael sings in his latest hit, “Girl, you're just too funky for me,” is he really singing about a woman? Or is he just being a total screamer and gender-fucking his male love object? 14. A bouncer. Labels: US, dated, slang 15. An exclamation mark. Labels: slang 16. A large, attention-getting headline. Labels: slang Example: Hartley's argument usefully reminds us that the spread of celebrity is not just the consequence of an accumulation of publicity handouts, advertisements, chat show interviews, or the shock-horror revelations in the tabloid screamers. 17. A person who is extremely loud and boisterous during sexual intercourse. Example: I could tell in advance if they were screamers, or leatherettes, or buggers, or great head-givers, or into toys and ticklers – I had it down to an art.