alarm clock

American  

noun

• alarm clocks
  plural

1. a clock with a bell or buzzer that can be set to sound at a particular time, as to awaken someone.

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alarm clock British  

noun

1. a clock with a mechanism that sounds at a set time: used esp for waking a person up

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• alarm clocks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of alarm clock

First recorded in 1690–1700

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alarm clock

“And he said, ‘Waking up, not to an alarm clock, and not having to go in and cook bacon and just being able to have a cup of coffee at home and cook for myself.’”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Not necessarily, I suspect, due to the near-extinction of the alarm clock.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

His alarm clock, a big and bulky machine that’s Bluetooth-connected to the house’s fire alarm, rattles his room until he finally shuts it off.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

She was joined on the red sofa by her husband Steve, who joked that the "the first thing to go" in their new lives going forward would be the "the alarm clock".

From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026

It is the seventeenth of June; my alarm clock ticks 2:00, 2:30 a.m.

From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper

Related Words

• clock radio