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alarm
[ uh-lahrm ]
noun
- a sudden fear or distressing suspense caused by an awareness of danger; apprehension; fright.
Synonyms: panic, terror, consternation
- any sound, outcry, or information intended to warn of approaching danger:
Paul Revere raced through the countryside raising the alarm that the British were coming.
- an automatic device that serves to call attention, to rouse from sleep, or to warn of fire, smoke, an intruder, etc.
- a warning sound; signal for attention.
- Animal Behavior. any sound, outcry, chemical discharge, action, or other signal that functions to draw attention to a potential predator.
- Fencing. an appeal or a challenge made by a step or stamp on the ground with the advancing foot.
- Archaic. a call to arms.
verb (used with object)
- to make fearful or apprehensive; distress.
- to warn of danger; rouse to vigilance and swift measures for safety.
- to fit or equip with an alarm or alarms, as for fire, smoke, or robbery:
to alarm one's house and garage.
alarm
/ əˈlɑːm /
verb
- to fill with apprehension, anxiety, or fear
- to warn about danger; alert
- to fit or activate a burglar alarm on a house, car, etc
noun
- fear or terror aroused by awareness of danger; fright
- apprehension or uneasiness
the idea of failing filled him with alarm
- a noise, signal, etc, warning of danger
- any device that transmits such a warning
a burglar alarm
- the device in an alarm clock that triggers off the bell or buzzer
- short for alarm clock
- archaic.a call to arms
- fencing a warning or challenge made by stamping the front foot
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Derived Forms
- aˈlarming, adjective
- aˈlarmingly, adverb
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Other Words From
- a·larma·ble adjective
- a·larm·ed·ly [uh, -, lahr, -mid-lee], adverb
- prea·larm verb (used with object) noun
- una·larmed adjective
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of alarm1
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Idioms and Phrases
see false alarm .Discover More
Example Sentences
On Christmas Day, sometime after dark, a hideous fire overtook the venue: 100 firefighters, 33 fire trucks, a four-alarm blaze.
The airline industry objects that sometimes these deployable recorders can pop out without cause, spreading needless alarm.
Truth be told, there is no one better at capturing the agony and alarm of a woman in the throes of a nervous breakdown than Moore.
If the idea of a religious vigilante ambushing sex workers in his spare time sets off alarm bells, it probably should.
Brown was still sounding the alarm about one particular firm, Booz Allen Hamilton, when he was arrested on September 12, 2012.
Some of the alarm returned, however, when the creature attempted to climb up by his own ladder.
There is cause for alarm when they bring one hundred and ten ships into these seas without any means of resistance on our part.
Her face wore a look of distress, almost of alarm; she kept her place, but her eyes gave Bernard a mute welcome.
The public eye, ever watchful and timid, waits scarcely for the show of danger to take alarm and withdraw its favour.
Some of the soldiers secured the porter from creating an alarm; and the rest filling the hall, fastened the door.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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