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Alarm   /əlˈɑrm/   Listen
noun
Alarm  n.  
1.
A summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy. "Arming to answer in a night alarm."
2.
Any sound or information intended to give notice of approaching danger; a warning sound to arouse attention; a warning of danger. "Sound an alarm in my holy mountain."
3.
A sudden attack; disturbance; broil. (R.) "These home alarms." "Thy palace fill with insults and alarms."
4.
Sudden surprise with fear or terror excited by apprehension of danger; in the military use, commonly, sudden apprehension of being attacked by surprise. "Alarm and resentment spread throughout the camp."
5.
A mechanical contrivance for awaking persons from sleep, or rousing their attention; an alarum.
Alarm bell, a bell that gives notice on danger.
Alarm clock or Alarm watch, a clock or watch which can be so set as to ring or strike loudly at a prearranged hour, to wake from sleep, or excite attention.
Alarm gauge, a contrivance attached to a steam boiler for showing when the pressure of steam is too high, or the water in the boiler too low.
Alarm post, a place to which troops are to repair in case of an alarm.
Synonyms: Fright; affright; terror; trepidation; apprehension; consternation; dismay; agitation; disquiet; disquietude. Alarm, Fright, Terror, Consternation. These words express different degrees of fear at the approach of danger. Fright is fear suddenly excited, producing confusion of the senses, and hence it is unreflecting. Alarm is the hurried agitation of feeling which springs from a sense of immediate and extreme exposure. Terror is agitating and excessive fear, which usually benumbs the faculties. Consternation is overwhelming fear, and carries a notion of powerlessness and amazement. Alarm agitates the feelings; terror disorders the understanding and affects the will; fright seizes on and confuses the sense; consternation takes possession of the soul, and subdues its faculties. See Apprehension.


verb
Alarm  v. t.  (past & past part. alarmed; pres. part. alarming)  
1.
To call to arms for defense; to give notice to (any one) of approaching danger; to rouse to vigilance and action; to put on the alert.
2.
To keep in excitement; to disturb.
3.
To surprise with apprehension of danger; to fill with anxiety in regard to threatening evil; to excite with sudden fear. "Alarmed by rumors of military preparation."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Alarm" Quotes from Famous Books



... bird after another until his shafts are exhausted, when he climbs down, draws out the arrows from the bodies of the birds killed, and climbs up again to repeat the operation. As the light darts used make no sound, the birds seldom take the alarm, and are too busily engaged with the berries to notice their comrades dropping to the ground from time to time, and pay but slight attention even to ...
— Seventh Annual Report • Various
... said. "I know it. As soon as there was an alarm—as soon as Mike yelled out that the prisoner had escaped, I legged it for the cabin, and I found Turner just waking up from his sleep. He had no hand ...
— A Woman at Bay - A Fiend in Skirts • Nicholas Carter
... sure the giant was dead, the boy felt his way toward the opening that led to the middle cavern. The entrance was narrow and the darkness was intense, but, feeling braver now, the boy stepped boldly forward. Instantly the floor began to sink beneath him and in great alarm he turned and made a leap that enabled him to grasp the rocky sides of the wall and regain a footing in the passage through which he ...
— Rinkitink in Oz • L. Frank Baum
... report that the major suddenly stopped his snoring, and springing to his feet in a state of great confusion, began to call out at the top of his voice that the sloop was sinking. But he as suddenly regained his senses, and called to mind the honors that were to be paid him, he felt great alarm lest he had overslept himself, and besought Captain Luke Snider, who turned out of his berth at the same moment, to run upon deck and say he was not quite ready to receive them. But as Captain Luke took no heed of his request, and thought only of getting into port, the major, ...
— The Life and Adventures of Maj. Roger Sherman Potter • "Pheleg Van Trusedale"
... few years later, and, writing to Lady Hesketh, lamented: "I shall never see Weston more. I have been tossed like a ball into a far country, from which there is no rebound for me." Who but the little recluse of a little world could think of Norfolk as a far country and shake with alarm before the "tremendous ...
— The Art of Letters • Robert Lynd


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