Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
SCREECH
I. noun
Date: 1560
a high shrill piercing cry usually expressing pain or terror, a sound resembling a screech,
II. verb
Etymology: alteration of earlier scritch, from Middle English scrichen; akin to Old Norse skrækja to screech
Date: 1577
intransitive verb to utter a high shrill piercing cry ; make an outcry usually in terror or pain, to make a shrill high-pitched sound resembling a screech, transitive verb to utter with or as if with a screech, screecher noun