scream, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

scream v.

1. to inform, usu. to the police but occas. against them.

1925		E. Wallace Melody of Death 114: ‘I don’t want to hear any more about your conscience,’ said the officer wearily. ‘Do you scream or don’t you?’ ‘I don’t scream,’ said Mr. Wallis emphatically.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 165: ‘I’ll scream!’ she said. ‘I will. I’ll tell everyone.’.
1955		B. Hill Boss of Britain’s Underworld 3: Not one crooked person [...] can say I’ve doubled on anyone, or that I’ve screamed or grassed to the law.
1967		J. Morgan Involved 114: He never got paid [...] and my information is he’s ready to scream [OED].
1970		G.F. Newman Sir, You Bastard 62: I’m gonna scream like a pig in court.
1983		R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].
1993		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read How to Shoot Friends 95: Taylor screamed Longley’s name long and loud when he was arrested and questioned.

2. to complain.

1955		B. Hill Boss of Britain’s Underworld 177: Maybe the thieves thought the owner would not put up a scream. But he did. He screamed his head off.
1958		F. Norman in Bristol Eve. Post 27 Nov. in Norman’s London (1969) 44: But out it [i.e. a marriage] came my daughter, who is a very fine kid, so I haven’t really got much to scream about.

3. (US black) to engage in verbal confrontation.

1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS 190: Scream Go wild.
1972		W. Labov in Kochman Rappin’ & Stylin’ Out 274: ‘Woofing’ is common in Philadelphia and elsewhere, ‘joning’ in Washington, ‘signifying’ in Chicago, ‘screaming’ in Harrisburg, and, on the West Coast, such general terms as ‘cutting,’ ‘capping,’ or ‘chopping’.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 95: Terms like to blow away, to scream, to dump, [...] all connote loud or energetic action.

4. (US gay) to be ostentatiously homosexual.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 177: scream 1. to be obviously homosexual.

In phrases

scream cold (v.) (also scream foul, ...hard)

(US black) to use language that is likely to cause a fight.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 95: So verbal confrontation runs the gamut from the more or less playful capping sessions to [...] hard-core confrontation where you scream cold, hard, foul or stomp on someone.

scream (down) some heavy lines (v.) [heavy adj. (5d) + line n.¹ (2b)] (US black)

1. to impress with one’s smart talk.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 253: scream (down) some heavy lines 1. Impress or outdo with conversation.

2. to debate or argue intensely and emotionally.

1980

E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 27: Do your own thang. Scream some heavy lines down to d’ Man.

scream on (v.)

1. (US black) to betray a confidence, to inform against, to gossip about.

1964

cited in C. Major Juba to Jive (1994).

2. (mainly US black) to attack verbally.

1961		L. Block Diet of Treacle (2008) 137: There’s lots of studs I can live without. But I don’t go screaming on ’em all the time.
1973		D. Goines Street Players 24: Those niggers screamed on me first, honey.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 253: scream, scream on, scream cold on See holler.
1998		Source Nov. 206: Joined by his protege, Short Khop, [...] the duo scream on fake gangstas and hustlers.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 scream on Definition: to yell at someone, usually your peeps, mom and pops, or your girl. Example: Yo, when I got home last night, pop dukes screamed on me.

3. to embarrass.

1971

H.E. Roberts Third Ear n.p.: screaming on v. [...] 2. embarrassing someone publicly.

4. (US gay) to be very keen on (something).

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 177: scream on [...] 3. to enthusiastically like an item.

scream out (v.)

to criticize, to tell off, to reprimand.

1997

N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 176: Too tired to scream me out.

SE in slang uses

In phrases

make someone scream (v.) [the screams are of orgasmic bliss]

(US campus) to have sexual intercourse with someone.

1989		P. Munro Sl. U.
1997		K. Kainulainen ‘University Euphemisms in Calif. Today’ 🌐 A great number of expressions are used instead of the expression ‘to have sex’, which has probably lost its power to shock, for example ‘to ride the hobby horse’, ‘to make someone scream’, ‘to do the wild thing’, ‘to boost’, ‘to boink’, ‘to ball’ or ‘to bump’ to name a few.

screaming for it (adj.)

desperate for sex, usu. but not invariably of a woman.

1963–74

B. Humphries Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 66: Must be screamin’ for it to be hanging around the station.

scream oneself into fits (v.)

to become hysterical.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 1025/1: from ca. 1840.

scream the place down (v.)

(orig. UK Und.) to report a burglary.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 1025/1: To go to Scotland Yard to report one’s loss: c.: from ca. 1900. Esp, to report a burglary, a sense that >, ca. 1935, gen. urban s.