Sirens

[sahy-ruhn]

si·ren

[sahy-ruhn]
noun
1.
Classical Mythology. one of several sea nymphs, part woman and part bird, who lure mariners to destruction by their seductive singing.
2.
a seductively beautiful or charming woman, especially one who beguiles men: a siren of the silver screen.
3.
an acoustical instrument for producing musical tones, consisting essentially of a disk pierced with holes arranged equidistantly in a circle, rotated over a jet or stream of compressed air, steam, or the like, so that the stream is alternately interrupted and allowed to pass.
4.
an implement of this kind used as a whistle, fog signal, or warning device.
5.
any of several aquatic, eellike salamanders of the family Sirenidae, having permanent external gills, small forelimbs, and no posterior limbs.
adjective
6.
of or like a siren.
7.
seductive or tempting, especially dangerously or harmfully: the siren call of adventure.

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Sirens is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
verb (used without object)
8.
to go with the siren sounding, as a fire engine.
verb (used with object)
9.
to allure in the manner of a siren.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English sereyn < Old French sereine < Late Latin Sīrēna, Latin Sīrēn < Greek Seirḗn

si·ren·like, adjective


2. seductress, temptress, vamp.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Sirens
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

Sirens definition


In classical mythology, evil creatures who lived on a rocky island, singing in beautiful voices in an effort to lure sailors to shipwreck and death. Odysseus ordered his crew to plug their ears to escape the Sirens' fatal song.

Note: Figuratively, a “siren” is a beautiful or tempting woman; a “siren song” is any irresistible distraction.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT