# screed

> English word · Noun · IPA /skɹiːd/ · frequency rank #65,485

## Definitions
1. A piece of writing (such as an article, letter, or list) or a speech, especially if long.
2. A speech or piece of writing which contains angry and extended criticism.
3. Chiefly in the plural form screeds: a large quantity.
4. Senses relating to building construction and masonry.
5. Senses relating to building construction and masonry.
6. Senses relating to building construction and masonry.
7. A piece or narrow strip cut or torn off from a larger whole; a shred.
8. A piece of land, especially one that is narrow.
9. A rent, a tear.

## Etymology
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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/screed