tocsin
a signal, especially of alarm, sounded on a bell or bells.
a bell used to sound an alarm.
Origin of tocsin
1Words Nearby tocsin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tocsin in a sentence
Come on, stand up, brother, father, toll the tocsin [alarm bell]!
Yet, so curiously constituted is the native mind, the blowing-up of the magazine was the final tocsin of revolt.
The Red Year | Louis TracyThe thunder was the tocsin of the storm, but those who came to rob and kill moved unheralded in swift silence.
Yon deep bell tolls no matin—'tis the tocsin's hurried blare!
Each morning at dawn the tocsin sounded from Ste. Gudule, and the people rushed to the barricades.
Belgium | George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond
The announcement of supper, the tocsin of liberty to a majority of the company, interrupted their lively dialogue.
Alone | Marion Harland
British Dictionary definitions for tocsin
/ (ˈtɒksɪn) /
an alarm or warning signal, esp one sounded on a bell
an alarm bell
Origin of tocsin
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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