startle
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
a sudden shock of surprise, alarm, or the like.
-
something that startles.
verb
Related Words
See shock 1.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of startle
First recorded before 1100; Middle English stertlen “to rush, caper,” equivalent to stert(en) “to begin, start” ( see start + -(e)len -le, or continuing Old English steartlian “to kick, struggle”
Explanation
To startle is to jump, like when you're surprised. If you’re sneaking through a dark room and step on a sleeping dog’s tail — you might startle the dog. If she barks, that dog startles you right back! A startle is a quick, sharp movement, like a little jump that happens when you’re surprised or suddenly scared. If you sneak up on your mom and say "Boo!" you’ll startle her and she might jump up in her seat (before she yells at you to quit it). Alarm clocks and barking dogs often startle people. The original meaning of startle, around 1300, was "to run back and forth," from the Old English word styrtan, "to leap up."
Vocabulary lists containing startle
"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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The Circuit
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"May Frankness May Startle" On July 2, after my resignation, a breakthrough finally came in the crisis over Lebanon.
From Time Magazine Archive
Startle Pah from his invisible perch and send him down for us.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
But if the Archangel's trump at the last hour Startle the ear of Death and wake the soul To frenzy!—dreams of infancy! fit tales For garrulous beldames to affrighten babes!
From Poems by Southey, Robert
Startle her, and her eyes are the very eyes of fear.
From The Desert and the Sown by Foote, Mary Hallock
The moss is plump and soft, the tawny leaves Are crisp beneath my tread, and scaly twigs Startle my wandering eye like basking snakes.
From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII. No. 3. March 1848 by Conrad, Robert Taylor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
