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

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Etymology

Origin of alarm clock

First recorded in 1690–1700

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alarm clock

Most anyone born in the 20th century would take one look at her plush retro alarm clock radio and instinctively feel the urge to whack its elongated vinyl “snooze” button.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Leave your phone downstairs: "Use something else as an alarm clock," suggested Neil.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

“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

Waking up to a phone call at dawn was more jarring than an alarm clock interrupting my dream.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

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Related Words

• clock radio

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