What does "screed" mean?
A piece of writing (such as an article, letter, or list) or a speech, especially if long.
Screed
/skɹiːd/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A piece of writing (such as an article, letter, or list) or a speech, especially if long.
- Grammar: screed is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: abuse, address, allocution, apercu.
- Usage evidence: Mrs. Screed was a mousey, anxious little woman.
How to use "screed"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "screed" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "screed" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "screed" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "screed" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "screed" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abuse" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "screed", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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."
- 2 A (discordant) sound or tune played on bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe. Northern-Ireland, Scotland, humorous
""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.""
- 3 an accurately levelled strip of material placed on a wall or floor as guide for the even application of plaster or concrete wordnet
- 4 A speech or piece of writing which contains angry and extended criticism. broadly
"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."
- 5 The sound of something scratching or tearing. Northern-Ireland, Scotland
"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.— [...]"
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- 6 a long piece of writing wordnet
- 7 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."
- 8 a long monotonous harangue wordnet
- 9 Senses relating to building construction and masonry.; 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."
- 10 Senses relating to building construction and masonry.; 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 the rear screed is last. The rear screed should be adjusted to carry enough grout ahead of it to insure continuous contact between screed and pavement."
- 11 Senses relating to building construction and masonry.; 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 screed one or two slight deal straight-edges, adapted to as many notches or chases made in the mould for it to work upon, are nailed."
- 12 A piece or narrow strip cut or torn off from a larger whole; a shred. Ireland, Newfoundland, Scotland, dated
""Weel done!" cried Mrs. Smith. "I trow ye gae her a screed o' your mind!""
- 13 A piece of land, especially one that is narrow. British, Scotland, dated, regional
"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 Lands intended to be incloſed by virtue of this Act, ſuch Freeboard, Screed, or Parcel of Land ſhall be deemed and taken to be Parcel of the Lands hereby directed to be divided and incloſed, [...]"
- 14 A rent, a tear. Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, dated
"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."
Verb
- 1 To rend, to shred, to tear. Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, dated, transitive
"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.]"
- 2 To play bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe. Northern-Ireland, Scotland, humorous, intransitive, rare
"[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."
- 3 To read or repeat from memory fluently or glibly; to reel off. Scotland, also, dated, figuratively, transitive
"He'll ſcreed you aff Effectual Calling, / As faſt as ony in the dwalling.— [...]"
- 4 To make a discordant or harsh scratching or tearing sound. Northern-Ireland, Scotland, intransitive, rare
- 5 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. transitive
"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."
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- 6 To play (a sound or tune) on bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe. Northern-Ireland, Scotland, humorous, obsolete, rare, transitive
"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; [...]"
- 7 To become rent or torn. Scotland, intransitive
"[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."
Adjective
- 1 Strewn with scree. Northern-Ireland, Scotland, not-comparable, rare
"We clambered up a screed slope."
Example
"Mrs. Screed was a mousey, anxious little woman."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "screed"?
Common synonyms include: abuse, address, allocution, apercu, article, assault.
How do you use "screed" in a sentence?
Mrs. Screed was a mousey, anxious little woman.
How do you pronounce "screed"?
Pronounced /skɹiːd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
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.
Etymology 3
Probably imitative; compare screech, skreigh.
Etymology 4
From scree (“loose, stony debris”) + -ed.