ear-piercing

[ eer-peer-sing ]
See synonyms for ear-piercing on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. extremely harsh and irritating to the ear: ear-piercing noise.

Origin of ear-piercing

1
First recorded in 1595–1605

Words Nearby ear-piercing

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ear-piercing in a sentence

  • Bill Hayes, he of the gray mustache and the ear-piercing faller's cry, was a "long-stake" man.

    The Hidden Places | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • No one has ever more skilfully communicated his own disenchantment; no one ever blown a more ear-piercing note of sadness.

    Familiar Studies of Men and Books | Robert Louis Stevenson
  • But he jumped up, and ran down to the shore, and sent an ear-piercing yell across the water.

    Peter Cotterell's Treasure | Rupert Sargent Holland

British Dictionary definitions for ear piercing

ear piercing

noun
  1. the making of a hole in the lobe of an ear, using a sterilized needle, so that an earring may be worn fastened in the hole

adjectiveear-piercing
  1. so loud or shrill as to hurt the ears

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012