How to pronounce word in English - English Word Dictionary- Learn English free online - English Learning Online

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

banshee

ban·shee [ ˈban-(ˌ)shē]

banshee

noun

[ˈban-(ˌ)shē]

Definition of banshee

: a female spirit in Gaelic folklore whose appearance or wailing warns a family that one of them will soon die
//We heard someone screaming like a banshee.

Did You Know

In Irish folklore, a "bean sidhe" (literally "woman of fairyland") was not a welcome guest. When she was seen combing her hair or heard wailing beneath a window, it was considered a sign that a family member was about to die. English speakers modified the mournful fairy's Irish name into the modern word banshee - a term we now most often use to evoke her woeful or terrible or earsplitting cry, as in "to scream like a banshee," or attributively, "a banshee wail."

Recent Examples on the Web

//Howling on the outside, quiet on the inside The magic starts with the engine, a supercharged 5.2L V8 that can howl like a banshee but leaves the cabin quiet enough for conversation at normal levels.
— Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, "760-horsepower 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 strikes like lightning," 29 Oct. 2019
//From goth metal banshee siren to pop jazz chanteuse to blues singer, big-voiced Stevens is a master of reinvention and surprise.
— Hector Saldana, ExpressNews.com, "San Antonio singer Kara Stevens enters her blues period," 25 Oct. 2019
//Seabirds howl like banshees, and seal colonies, numbering in the thousands, bubble and blip among the waves.
— Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, "Going Off-Grid in Namibia," 21 Dec. 2018
//Maddon exploded like an M-80 on the Fourth of July at PNC Park, charging out of the Cubs dugout and screaming like a banshee in the general direction of Pirates manager Clint Hurdle before being held back by Kris Bryant and umpire Joe West.
— Paul Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, "4 people to watch as the Cubs and White Sox resume the City Series on the South Side," 5 July 2019
//The inconstant, tympanic thrumming of the fabric is an intonation underlying one shrieking run after another of banshee notes, some of them single tones within the squalling wind that sustain themselves for several seconds before dropping an octave.
— Barry Lopez, Harper's magazine, "Polar Light," 10 Jan. 2019
//Winds batter ridges where seabirds howl like banshees, and jackals stalk baroque canyons of soft crumbling rock.
— Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, "Going Off-Grid in Namibia," 21 Dec. 2018
//Disney Enterprises has been seeking new patents for ride technology that could pick a route for your car — or boat or banshee — based on how frightened the guest is.
— Paul Brinkmann, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Disney World ride scaring you? New tech could adapt to your mood," 8 Mar. 2018
//As a digital clock hit that mark, civil defense alarms screamed like banshees letting the estimated 45,000 in attendance know that the walk was officially underway.
— Marty Pearl, The Courier-Journal, "Louisville zombie fest runs amok on Bardstown," 27 Aug. 2017

First Known Use of banshee

1771, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for banshee

Irish bean sídhe & Scottish Gaelic bean sìth, literally, woman of fairyland

Dictionary Entries near banshee