Meaning of alarm in English

Table of contents

Verb
alarm
Definitions
1. fill with apprehension or alarm
Examples
- « cause to be unpleasantly surprised »
- « I was horrified at the thought of being late for my interview »
- « The news of the executions horrified us »
Derived terms
2. warn or arouse to a sense of danger or call to a state of preparedness
Examples
- « The empty house alarmed him »
- « We alerted the new neighbors to the high rate of burglaries »
Derived terms
Noun
alarm
Etymology
late Middle English (as an exclamation meaning ‘to arms!’): from Old French alarme, from Italian allarme, from all' arme!‘to arms!’
Definitions
1. fear resulting from the awareness of danger
Derived terms
2. a device that signals the occurrence of some undesirable event
3. an automatic signal (usually a sound) warning of danger
Derived terms
- alert
4. a clock that wakes sleeper at preset time

Famous quotes

« Morning comes whether you set the alarm or not. »
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« Your body tells you what it needs, and if you sleep past your alarm on a Saturday morning, it's probably because you need the sleep. »
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« Moving between the legs of tables and of chairs, rising or falling, grasping at kisses and toys, advancing boldly, sudden to take alarm, retreating to the corner of arm and knee, eager to be reassured, taking pleasure in the fragrant brilliance of the Christmas tree. »
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« Thanks to the greatest invention of recent years, the MP3-playing alarm clock, I can now choose the song that wakes me up in the morning. »
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« Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labour, exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television. »
Lewis Thomas