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definitions

siren

[sahy-ruhn]
See more synonyms for siren on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Classical Mythology. one of several sea nymphs, part woman and part bird, who lure mariners to destruction by their seductive singing.
  2. a seductively beautiful or charming woman, especially one who beguiles men: a siren of the silver screen.
  3. an acoustical instrument for producing musical tones, consisting essentially of a disk pierced with holes arranged equidistantly in a circle, rotated over a jet or stream of compressed air, steam, or the like, so that the stream is alternately interrupted and allowed to pass.
  4. an implement of this kind used as a whistle, fog signal, or warning device.
  5. any of several aquatic, eellike salamanders of the family Sirenidae, having permanent external gills, small forelimbs, and no posterior limbs.
adjective
  1. of or like a siren.
  2. seductive or tempting, especially dangerously or harmfully: the siren call of adventure.
verb (used without object)
  1. to go with the siren sounding, as a fire engine.
verb (used with object)
  1. to allure in the manner of a siren.

Origin of siren

1300–50; Middle English sereyn < Old French sereine < Late Latin Sīrēna, Latin Sīrēn < Greek Seirḗn
Related formssi·ren·like, adjective

Synonyms for siren

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2. seductress, temptress, vamp.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for siren

whistle, signal, warning, bell, horn, beauty, temptress, charmer, vamp, enchantress, goddess, sexpot, alarm

Examples from the Web for siren

Contemporary Examples of siren

Historical Examples of siren

  • There he left the affair, nor ever spoke again of Malpas and the siren who presided there.

    The Sea-Hawk

    Raphael Sabatini

  • "I thank you, dearest dear," cooed the siren, caressing him tenderly.

    Victor's Triumph

    Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

  • "Ah, you say you do, yet you refuse to do as I wish you," sorrowfully replied the siren.

    Victor's Triumph

    Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

  • Within an hour the morning siren would arouse the passengers.

  • Marc Polder had faded back into the crowd at the first sound of the siren.

    This One Problem

    M. C. Pease

British Dictionary definitions for siren

siren

noun
  1. a device for emitting a loud wailing sound, esp as a warning or signal, typically consisting of a rotating perforated metal drum through which air or steam is passed under pressure
  2. (sometimes capital) Greek myth one of several sea nymphs whose seductive singing was believed to lure sailors to destruction on the rocks the nymphs inhabited
    1. a woman considered to be dangerously alluring or seductive
    2. (as modifier)her siren charms
  4. any aquatic eel-like salamander of the North American family Sirenidae, having external gills, no hind limbs, and reduced forelimbs

Word Origin for siren

C14: from Old French sereine, from Latin sīrēn, from Greek seirēn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for siren
n.

mid-14c., "sea nymph who by her singing lures sailors to their destruction," from Old French sereine (12c., Modern French sirène) and directly from Latin Siren (Late Latin Sirena), from Greek Seiren ["Odyssey," xii.39 ff.], one of the Seirenes, mythical sisters who enticed sailors to their deaths with their songs, also in Greek "a deceitful woman," perhaps literally "binder, entangler," from seira "cord, rope."

Meaning "device that makes a warning sound" (on an ambulance, etc.) first recorded 1879, in reference to steamboats, perhaps from similar use of the French word. Figurative sense of "one who sings sweetly and charms" is recorded from 1580s. The classical descriptions of them were mangled in medieval translations and glosses, resulting in odd notions of what they looked like.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper