clarion

[ klar-ee-uhn ]
See synonyms for: clarionclarions on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. clear and shrill: the clarion call of a battle trumpet.

noun
  1. an ancient trumpet with a curved shape.

  2. the sound of this instrument.

  1. any similar sound.

Origin of clarion

1
1275–1325; Middle English <Medieval Latin clāriōn- (stem of clāriō) trumpet, equivalent to clār-clear + -iōn--ion

Words Nearby clarion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use clarion in a sentence

  • Yet the clarion opposes sweating and tyranny and hypocrisy, and does its best to defeat and to destroy them.

    God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
  • Like a clarion call the note rings in my ears, amidst the din of contending views and obscure phraseology.

    Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander Berkman
  • We walked on so together to the spot where we first had met, and where first the thrush had sounded for us his elfin clarion.

    The Idyl of Twin Fires | Walter Prichard Eaton
  • He had unfolded the newspaper slowly and carefully, the sharp crackle of the paper would have been a clarion call to Agnes.

    Time Enough at Last | Lyn Venable
  • Three more steps will make a certain shot, and—out rang Jack's nasal clarion, loud and clear as the morte at a fox-chase.

British Dictionary definitions for clarion

clarion

/ (ˈklærɪən) /


noun
  1. a four-foot reed stop of trumpet quality on an organ

  2. an obsolete, high-pitched, small-bore trumpet

  1. the sound of such an instrument or any similar sound

adjective
  1. (prenominal) clear and ringing; inspiring: a clarion call to action

verb
  1. to proclaim loudly

Origin of clarion

1
C14: from Medieval Latin clāriō trumpet, from Latin clārus clear

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012