tocsin
[tok-sin]
noun
a signal, especially of alarm, sounded on a bell or bells.
a bell used to sound an alarm.
Origin of tocsin
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for tocsin
Contemporary Examples of tocsin
Historical Examples of tocsin
The tocsin rang impatiently, but other help (if that were any) there was none.
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens
Her motto, "Truth for authority and not authority for truth," is still the tocsin of reform.
What priest does not know that tocsin of the night, and the start from peaceful slumbers?
My New CurateP.A. Sheehan
Immediately he dreamt that he heard the tocsin and took part in the events of June, 1848.
DreamsHenri Bergson
Drums can be heard beating the alarm, and the tocsin peals from the churches.
The Gods are AthirstAnatole France
tocsin
noun
Word Origin for tocsin
C16: from French, from Old French toquassen, from Old Provençal tocasenh, from tocar to touch + senh bell, from Latin signum
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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