alarums and excursions
- (especially in Elizabethan drama) military action, as representative fragments of a battle, sound effects of trumpets, or clash of arms: used as a stage direction.
- any noisy, frantic, or disorganized activity.
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Origin of alarums and excursions
First recorded in 1585–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018