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siren

 - 4 dictionary results

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, esp. 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, esp. dangerously or harmfully: the siren call of adventure.
–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; ME sereyn < OF sereine < LL Sīrēna, L Sīrēn < Gk Seirn


si⋅ren⋅like, adjective


2. seductress, temptress, vamp.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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si·ren   (sī'rən)   
n.  
    1. A device in which compressed air or steam is driven against a rotating perforated disk to create a loud, often wailing sound as a signal or warning.

    2. An electronic device producing a similar sound as a signal or warning: a police car siren.

  1. Any of several salamanders of the family Sirenidae, such as the mud eel, having an eellike body, permanent external gills, small forelegs, and no hind limbs.


[French sirène, from Old French sereine, Siren, from Late Latin Sīrēna, from Latin Sīrēn, from Greek Seirēn.]
Si·ren   (sī'rən)   
n.  
  1. Greek Mythology One of a group of sea nymphs who by their sweet singing lured mariners to destruction on the rocks surrounding their island.

  2. siren A woman regarded as seductive and beautiful.


[Middle English serein, from Old French sereine; see siren.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

siren

any member of the family Sirenidae (order Caudata), a group of four species of aquatic salamanders that resemble eels. Their long, slender bodies are usually brown, dark gray, or greenish. The forelegs are tiny, and the hind legs and pelvis are absent. Young and adults have feathery gills

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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