alarum
Americannoun
noun
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archaic an alarm, esp a call to arms
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(used as a stage direction, esp in Elizabethan drama) a loud disturbance or conflict (esp in the phrase alarums and excursions )
Etymology
Origin of alarum
C15: variant of alarm
Vocabulary lists containing alarum
"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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Selection Vocabulary 4, Unit 1
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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.
Thus was the alarum sounded for more spit, less polish.
From Time Magazine Archive
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When four days passed without sign of the boat Mrs. Minevitch set up an alarum.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Disturbed by the man’s alarum, we looked up from our labor and found a detachment of Redcoats running in formation for the gates.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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Micropt. supra plumbeo grisescens; gul� scapularibusque rufescentibus; abdomine speculoque alarum albis; rostro virescenti-nigro, ungue nigro.
From Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836 Volume I. - Proceedings of the First Expedition, 1826-1830 by Fitzroy, Robert
Pod. capite colloque superioribus nigris, gul� griseo-albid�, collo inferiore rufo; dorso fusco-atro; abdomine strig�que lat� alarum albis.
From Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836 Volume I. - Proceedings of the First Expedition, 1826-1830 by Fitzroy, Robert
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.