screed Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a long monotonous harangue
  2. noun a long piece of writing
  3. noun an accurately levelled strip of material placed on a wall or floor as guide for the even application of plaster or concrete

WordNet

Screed noun
Etymology
Prov. E., a shred, the border of a cap. See Shred.
Definitions
  1. (Arch.) (a) A strip of plaster of the thickness proposed for the coat, applied to the wall at intervals of four or five feet, as a guide. (b) A wooden straightedge used to lay across the plaster screed, as a limit for the thickness of the coat.
  2. A fragment; a portion; a shred. Scot.
Screed noun
Etymology
See 1st Screed. For sense 2 cf. also Gael. sgread an outcry.
Definitions
  1. A breach or rent; a breaking forth into a loud, shrill sound; as, martial screeds.
  2. An harangue; a long tirade on any subject.
    The old carl gae them a screed of doctrine; ye might have heard him a mile down the wind. Sir W. Scott.

Webster 1913