shout

Formsshouts, shouting, shouted

Pluralshouts

1. 1
   verbintransitive

   To utter a sudden, loud cry: out of joy, anger, or triumph, or to grab attention or urge others on.

   The fans shout whenever their team scores a goal.

   She shouted across the yard to call the dog back.

   Similaryell, cry, scream, roar, holler

   Oppositewhisper, murmur

   Note

   Two prepositions divide the intransitive verb. Shout to someone means calling to them, often with an instruction (Mom shouted to us to come sit). Shout at someone or something aims the noise at a target, often in frustration, as in shouting at the radio. The King James Bible of 1611 doubles it for emphasis, pairing the verb with the noun for the cry: all the people shall shout with a great shout.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A loud burst of voice: a sudden, violent outcry, especially from a crowd expressing joy, triumph, anger, or great effort.

   A great shout rose from the crowd as the runner crossed the line.

   The captain's orders were drowned out by the shouts of the sailors.

   Similarcry, yell, roar, bellow

   Oppositewhisper

   Note

   The core noun, with a genuinely uncertain origin: Middle English shouten, perhaps tied to shooten, "to shoot (out)", or to Old Norse skúta, "to chide, scold". Either guess suits a cry that bursts out of someone. It pairs naturally with give out and with sharp intensifiers: a desperate shout, an ear-piercing shout. The duck-shooting boat spelled the same way is a separate word, borrowed from Dutch.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To utter or express something with a shout; to cry it out loudly.

   She shouted a warning as the car sped toward them.

   Protesters shout slogans outside the courthouse every afternoon.

   Similaryell, scream, bellow, cry, chant

   Oppositewhisper, murmur, mutter

4. 4
   nouncolloquialcountable

   A greeting, name-check, or brief mention of someone, for example on a radio or TV program.

   The DJ gave a quick shout to listeners celebrating birthdays.

   He ended the broadcast with a shout to the crew behind the scenes.

   Similarmention, greeting, nod

5. 5
   verbfigurativelyintransitive

   To forcefully attract attention or announce one's presence, as if by crying out.

   The bold headlines shout from every newsstand on the block.

   His flashy car practically shouts for attention on the street.

   Similarscream, yell, cry

6. 6
   verbintransitive

   To write an electronic message, such as an email, in all capital letters, treated online as the equivalent of yelling out loud.

   New users often shout without realizing that capital letters read as anger.

   She apologized for shouting in her earlier message.

   Similaryell

   Note

   An Internet convention in which typing in capital letters counts as raising your voice. Like the spoken verb, it is usually intransitive and tied to a place, as in don't shout in the chat room or in an email. Because capitals are read as shouting rather than emphasis, an all-caps message tends to come across as angry, whatever the writer meant.

7. 7
   nouncolloquialcountable

   A suggestion or an idea, especially one offered as a possible choice.

   Booking the tickets now seems like a sensible shout.

   Anyone got a shout for where we should eat tonight?

   Similaridea, suggestion, call, bet

   Note

   A conversational verdict more than a word for thought: it nearly always comes with an approving adjective, as in good shout or nice shout. People say it in reply to someone else's suggestion. Peter Crouch's How to Be a Footballer (2018) and Alice Oseman's Loveless (2022) both use it this way. It is informal and works best in speech, much like saying "good call".

8. 8
   nounslangAustraliaNew ZealandUKcountable

   A round of drinks in a pub, or one's turn to pay for a round.

   Whose shout is it now? The glasses are empty again.

   She insisted on getting the next shout before anyone could argue.

   Similarround, turn

   Note

   Pub etiquette in British, Australian and New Zealand slang: a round is someone's turn, so the word takes a possessive, as in my shout, his shout, or whose shout is it? Keri Hulme's The Bone People (1984) and Lily Allen's "Knock 'Em Out" (2006) both use it that way. The older idea behind it is paying the shot or scot. Australians and New Zealanders also make it a verb, as in shouting someone a drink.

9. 9
   verbslangAustraliaNew Zealandtransitive

   To pay for food, drink, or entertainment on behalf of others.

   He offered to shout the whole crew dinner to celebrate.

   They shouted their friends tickets to the evening show.

   Similartreat

   Note

   Australian and New Zealand slang that takes two objects, like give or buy: he shouted me a beer, after shouting me a plate of noodles. The person treated comes first and the treat second, and the person can also stand alone (the blokes who have been shouting me). Its synonym is treat. It is the verb behind a round of drinks, though it reaches beyond the pub to food and entertainment.

10. 10
    nounslangAustraliaUKcountable

    A call-out alerting an emergency services team, such as a lifeboat or fire crew, to respond to an incident.

    The lifeboat volunteers answered three shouts in a single weekend.

    His pager buzzed with a shout as the storm worsened.

    Similarcall, callout, alert

    Note

    Emergency crews in Britain and Australia use this slang for the call that sends them out. It usually takes on: an ambulance or a crew is on a shout, as in Dave Boulter's London's Emergency Service Vehicles (2017). Because it is slang, it belongs to the crews' own talk rather than to formal reports.

11. 11
    noundialectalUKcountable

    A flat-bottomed boat used for carrying cargo, or now more often a light one used for shooting ducks.

    The hunter loaded his gear into the shout before dawn.

    Two shouts drifted across the marsh, low and flat against the water.

    Similarpunt, barge, scow

    Note

    Despite the spelling, this is a different word from the cry. It comes from Middle English shout(e), from Middle Dutch schûte, "boat or light ship", and is a doublet of schuit. It survives in British dialect, now mostly for the duck-shooter's light boat. John Blair's Waterways and Canal-Building in Medieval England (2007) applies it to working cargo craft, estimating loads of wheat per shout.

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