squawk

A laptop on the center console dings like a supermarket scanner every time license-plate readers attached to the truck capture another car’s tag—and the computer squawks when it spots a possible repo candidate.

Even the animals are distinctive—especially Kōkī, the pet parrot who acts like a Shakespearean fool, squawking incautious truths to Tongan authority.

Budget hawks can squawk all they like, but sooner or later Japan’s defense needs will force higher military spending.

The plane transmitted a 7700 squawk code - which are broadcast to tell air traffic control that there is an emergency and the aircraft needs priority handling.

In the ocean-side city of Gloucester, about an hour north of Boston, the sharp smell of salt air has been undercut by the lingering funk of rotting garbage, and squawking seagulls circle overhead.