English

Noun

scree ‎(countable and uncountable, plural screes)

1. (uncountable) Loose stony debris on a slope.
   • 2003, Bing West, The Pepperdogs: A Novel, page 328:

     Occasional rounds zinged off the scree, each with a different pitch.

2. A slope of such material at the base of a cliff, etc.
   • 1987, Michael J. Sallnow, Pilgrims of the Andes: regional cults in Cusco, page 189:

     The next landmark was an apachita 'cairn', at the top of a steep scree. Each pilgrim carried a stone to the summit, spat on it, and threw it on to the cairn — the purpose being, I was told, to relieve the soul of its sins [...]

Quotations

• 2002, Catherine Merridale, Night of Stone: Death and Memory in Twentieth-Century Russia, page 243:

  Acres of the industrial port had been reduced to desolation, half-walls, half-chimneys, crazy sticks of steel that looped up out of concrete scree. The temptation not to clear and rebuild must have been strong.

• 2008, Ioannis Nikolaou Vogiatzakis, Gloria Pungetti, Antoinette M. Mannion, Mediterranean Island Landscapes: Natural and Cultural Approaches, page 252:

  Many screes are converted, in whole or in part, into concrete-like breccias. Carapaces of cemented scree encrust steep slopes. Cliffs of conglomerate or marl are covered with a layer of re-deposited limestone and look like hard rock.

Translations

Verb

scree ‎(third-person singular simple present screes, present participle screeing, simple past and past participle screed)

1. To flatten or level concrete, while still wet, and clear protruding stones and gravel from the surface.
   • 1947, Concrete production and control: Tennessee Valley Authority projects, page 44:

     The crushing and screeing equipment owned by the TVA was transferred from job to job, and the availability of this equipment was one of the factors in determining who would produce the aggregate.

   • 1974, Wildlife in North Carolina, volumes 38-39, page 8:

     Pour concrete. Use a straight 1-inch pipe about 12 feet long to scree each section.

   • 1999, Maxine Kumin, Quit monks or die!: a novel, page 44:

     He was a stupid sonofabitch who didn't scree the concrete enough, his corner post was an eighth of an inch out of plumb, and what **** set these louvers upside down?

   • 1999, Theodore Osmundson, Roof gardens: history, design, and construction, ISBN 9780393730128, page 196:

     The sand bed is screed in preparation for laying the precast paving.

   • 1993 August 9, "Jeff LaCoss" (username), "Remodeling: new tile bath?", in misc.consumers.house, Usenet:

     You can set 1" thick slats on the tar and use them to scree the concrete to thickness.

2. To traverse scree.

See also

• scree on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Screes on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Etymology 2

(onomatopoeia)

Noun

scree ‎(plural screes)

1. A harsh high-pitched sound as of a hawk.

Verb

scree ‎(third-person singular simple present screes, present participle screeing, simple past and past participle screed)

1. To make a high-pitched sound like that of a hawk.
   • 2010, Linda Ross Meyer, Match, the Whining Dragon, page 62:

     She screed like a hawk.

Anagrams

• ceres, Ceres