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Fig.: Harsh; unmusical. [R.] His verse is scabrous and hobbling. Dryden.

To find fault or rail with rude clamor; to brawl; to utter harsh, rude, boisterous rebuke; to chide sharply or coarsely; -- often with at; as, to scold at a servant. Pardon me, lords, 't is the first time ever I was forced to scold. Shak.

t; to rub over with something that roughens by removing portions of the surface; to grate harshly over; to abrade; to make even, or bring to a required condition or form, by moving the sharp edge of an instrument breadthwise over the surface with pressure, cutting away excesses and superfluous parts; to make smooth or…

To utter a harsh, shrill cry; to make a sharp outcry, as in terror or acute pain; to scream; to shriek. "The screech owl, screeching loud." Shak.

Like a screech; shrill and harsh.

Very strict in judgment, discipline, or government; harsh; not mild or indulgent; rigorous; as, severe criticism; severe punishment. "Custody severe." Milton. Come! you are too severe a moraler. Shak. Let your zeal, if it must be expressed in anger, be always more severe against thyself than against others. Jer. Taylor…

Gravity or austerity; extreme strictness; rigor; harshness; as, the severity of a reprimand or a reproof; severity of discipline or government; severity of penalties. "Strict age, and sour severity." Milton.

Cutting in language or import; biting; sarcastic; cruel; harsh; rigorous; severe; as, a sharp rebuke. "That sharp look." Tennyson. To that place the sharp Athenian law Can not pursue us. Shak. Be thy words severe, Sharp as merits but the sword forbear. Dryden.

The great titmouse; -- so called from its harsh call notes. [Prov. Eng.]

The fieldfare; -- so called from its harsh cry before rain. [Prov. Eng.]

The missel thrush; -- so called from its harsh alarm note. [Prev. Eng.]

Not rough or harsh. Those rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek. Milton.

Flowing or uttered without check, obstruction, or hesitation; not harsh; voluble; even; fluent. The only smooth poet of those times. Milton. Waller was smooth; but Dryden taught to join The varying verse, the full-resounding line. Pope. When sage Minerva rose, From her sweet lips smooth elocution flows. Gay.…

To utter sharp, harsh, angry words; -- often with at; as, to snap at a child.

A harsh nasal noise made in sleep.

cause a vibration of the uvula and soft palate, thus giving rise to a sound more or less harsh. It is usually unvoluntary, but may be produced voluntarily.

Not rough, rugged, or harsh to the touch; smooth; delicate; fine; as, soft silk; a soft skin. They that wear soft clothing are in king's houses. Matt. xi. 8.

To make less harsh, less rude, less offensive, or less violent, or to render of an opposite quality. He bore his great commision in his look, But tempered awe, and softened all he spoke. Dryden.

loid produced by the decomposition of solanine, as a white crystalline substance having a harsh bitter taste.

to have a certain import, when heard; hence, to seem; to appear; as, this reproof sounds harsh; the story sounds like an invention. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair Shak. To sound in or into, to tend to; to partake of the nature of; to be consonant with. [Obs., except in the ph…