Link Centre Dictionary

alarm

UK/əˈlɑːm/ US/əˈlɑɹm/ common
noun (4) verb (2)

noun

1.

fear resulting from the awareness of danger

Synonyms
2.

a device that signals the occurrence of some undesirable event

Synonyms
3.
4.

a clock that wakes sleeper at preset time

Synonyms

verb

1.

fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

  • “I was horrified at the thought of being late for my interview”
  • “The news of the executions horrified us”
Synonyms
2.

warn or arouse to a sense of danger or call to a state of preparedness

  • “The empty house alarmed him”
  • “We alerted the new neighbors to the high rate of burglaries”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English alarme, alarom, borrowed from Middle French alarme, itself from Old Italian all'arme! (“to arms!, to the weapons!”), ultimately from Latin arma (“arms, weapons”).

Phrases

  • alarm bell
  • alarm call
  • alarm clock
  • alarm fatigue
  • alarm gauge
  • alarm reaction
  • alarm substance
  • alarm system

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.