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
When four days passed without sign of the boat Mrs. Minevitch set up an alarum.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
"O yes," said I, quickly and impertinently, "life flies to-day on a minute-hand, like an alarum it winds off; but how shall we form a plan, a good plan?"
From The Campaner Thal and Other Writings by Jean Paul
Sitting in the Library reading Mill's "Woman Triumphant," when my electric alarum rang.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 62, Jan 27, 1872 by Various
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.
