screed /skɹiːd/noun 11verb 7adjective 1forms 3 noun11 •A piece of writing (such as an article, letter, or list) or a speech, especially if long.Eh, Mr Henry! but the carle gae him a screed o' doctrine! Ye might hae heard him a mile down the wind—He routed like a cow in a fremd loaning. — 1816 •A speech or piece of writing which contains angry and extended criticism. •A smooth, flat layer of concrete, plaster, or similar material, especially if acting as a base for paving stones, tiles, wooden planks, etc.A few early churches were floored with a screed of weak concrete, after the Roman fashion, the ingredients being lime mortar and crushed brick (opus signinum). — 1998 •A tool, usually a long strip of wood or other material, placed on a floor to be covered with concrete, a wall to be plastered, etc., as a guide for producing a smooth, flat surface.When applied to large surfaces, strips or screeds of wood should be fixed to float from; and when the plain surface is formed, it is finished with the handfloat. — 1833 •A tool such as a long strip of wood or other material which is drawn over a wet layer of concrete, plaster, etc., to make it smooth and flat; also, a machine that achieves this effect; a screeder. •Chiefly in the plural form screeds: a large quantity.It uses a lot of footage of Japanese actors, and screeds of character text, making it unlikely to see a European release. — 1995 •(Ireland, old-fashioned) A piece or narrow strip cut or torn off from a larger whole; a shred."Weel done!" cried Mrs. Smith. "I trow ye gae her a screed o' your mind!" — 1813 •(Scotland, old-fashioned) A rent, a tear.Yet when a tale comes i' my head, / Or lasses gie my heart a screed, / As whiles they're like to be my dead, / (O sad disease!) / I kittle up my rustic reed; / It gies me ease. — 1786 •(UK, old-fashioned) A piece of land, especially one that is narrow. •(Scotland, Northern-Ireland) A (discordant) sound or tune played on bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe."Wi' hat in hand," sweet lass, quo I, / "Wer't in my power to sooth thy sigh, / My hame-bor'd whistle I wad try, / An' gie't a screed, / Atween whar Tiviot murmurs by, / An' bonny Tweed." — 1811 •(Scotland, Northern-Ireland) The sound of something scratching or tearing.Right o'er the steep he leans, / When his well-plenish'd king-hood voiding needs; / And, sploiting, strikes the stane his grany hit, / Wi' pistol screed, shot frae his gorlin doup.— [...] — 1789 verb7 •To use a screed to produce a smooth, flat surface of concrete, plaster, or similar material; also (generally) to put down a layer of concrete, plaster, etc.To screed and finish street and airfield pavements, you need power screeds and finishers. [...] Figure 3-22 shows a power screed as it screeds concrete over 1/2-inch steel reinforcing. — 1984 •(Scotland, old-fashioned) To read or repeat from memory fluently or glibly; to reel off.He'll screed you aff Effectual Calling, / As fast as ony in the dwalling.— [...] — 1801 •(Scotland) To become rent or torn.[H]ad I been in ony o' your rotten French camlets now, or your drab-de-berries, it would hae screeded like an auld rag wi' sic a weight as mine. — 1817 •(Scotland, old-fashioned) To rend, to shred, to tear. •(Scotland, rare) To play bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe. •(Scotland, rare) To make a discordant or harsh scratching or tearing sound. •(no longer used, rare) To play (a sound or tune) on bagpipes, a fiddle, or a pipe.In life's gay morn, or youthfu' prime, / Ere fancy droops her wing, / Screed up your reed, for that's the time / For bards to rant and sing; [...] — 1811 adjective1 •Strewn with scree.We clambered up a screed slope. formsscreeded · screeding · screeds