keening

Definition

Sharp, shrill, especially of a sound.

Etymology

From keen + -ing, from Irish caoin.

Example Sentences

• "The keening sound of a dentist's drill sets my teeth on edge."
• "As Black Sabbath’s doomsayer-in-chief, Osbourne could summon a true sense of terror in his keening cries in a way that heightened the band’s muscular dirges."