Definitions for alarm
əˈlɑrmalarm

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. alarmnoun

   A summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy.

   Arming to answer in a night alarm. --Shakespeare.

   Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

2. alarmnoun

   Any sound or information intended to give notice of approaching danger; a warning sound to arouse attention; a warning of danger.

   Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

3. alarmnoun

   Sudden surprise with fear or terror excited by apprehension of danger; in the military use, commonly, sudden apprehension of being attacked by surprise.

   Alarm and resentment spread throughout the camp. --Thomas Babington Macaulay.

   Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

4. alarmnoun

   A mechanical device for awaking people, or rousing their attention.

   The clockradio is a friendlier version of the cold alarm by the bedside

   Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

5. alarmnoun

   An instance of an alarum ringing or clanging, to give a noise signal at a certain time.

   You should set the alarm on your watch to go off at seven o'clock.

   Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

6. alarmverb

   To call to arms for defense

   Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

7. alarmverb

   To give (someone) notice of approaching danger

   Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

8. alarmverb

   To rouse to vigilance and action; to put on the alert.

   Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

9. alarmverb

   To surprise with apprehension of danger; to fill with anxiety in regard to threatening evil; to excite with sudden fear.

   Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

10. alarmverb

    To keep in excitement; to disturb.

    Etymology: From alarme, alarom, from alarme, itself from Old , ultimately from arma.

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. alarm, dismay, consternationnoun

   fear resulting from the awareness of danger

2. alarm, warning device, alarm systemnoun

   a device that signals the occurrence of some undesirable event

3. alarm, alert, warning signal, alarumnoun

   an automatic signal (usually a sound) warning of danger

4. alarm clock, alarmverb

   a clock that wakes a sleeper at some preset time

5. dismay, alarm, appal, appall, horrifyverb

   fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

   "I was horrified at the thought of being late for my interview"; "The news of the executions horrified us"

6. alarm, alertverb

   warn or arouse to a sense of danger or call to a state of preparedness

   "The empty house alarmed him"; "We alerted the new neighbors to the high rate of burglaries"

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Alarmnoun

   a summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy

   Etymology: [Alarm, n. Cf. F. alarmer.]

2. Alarmnoun

   any sound or information intended to give notice of approaching danger; a warning sound to arouse attention; a warning of danger

   Etymology: [Alarm, n. Cf. F. alarmer.]

3. Alarmnoun

   a sudden attack; disturbance; broil

   Etymology: [Alarm, n. Cf. F. alarmer.]

4. Alarmnoun

   sudden surprise with fear or terror excited by apprehension of danger; in the military use, commonly, sudden apprehension of being attacked by surprise

   Etymology: [Alarm, n. Cf. F. alarmer.]

5. Alarmnoun

   a mechanical contrivance for awaking persons from sleep, or rousing their attention; an alarum

   Etymology: [Alarm, n. Cf. F. alarmer.]

6. Alarmverb

   to call to arms for defense; to give notice to (any one) of approaching danger; to rouse to vigilance and action; to put on the alert

   Etymology: [Alarm, n. Cf. F. alarmer.]

7. Alarmverb

   to keep in excitement; to disturb

   Etymology: [Alarm, n. Cf. F. alarmer.]

8. Alarmverb

   to surprise with apprehension of danger; to fill with anxiety in regard to threatening evil; to excite with sudden fear

   Etymology: [Alarm, n. Cf. F. alarmer.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Alarm

   a-lärm′, n. notice of danger: sudden surprise with fear: a mechanical contrivance to arouse from sleep: a call to arms.—v.t. to call to arms: to give notice of danger: to fill with dread.—adv. Alarm′ingly.—n. Alarm′ist, one who excites alarm: one given to prophesy danger.—adj. alarming. [Fr. alarme—It. all' arme, to arms—L. ad, to, arma, arms.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. alarm

   [from the Italian all'armi!] An apprehension from sudden noise or report. The drum or signal by which men are summoned to stand on their guard in time of danger.--False alarm is sometimes occasioned by a timid or negligent sentry, and at others designedly by an officer, to ascertain the promptness of his men. Sometimes false alarms are given by the enemy to harass the adversary. Old Rider defines alarm as a "watch-word shewing the neernesse of the enemies."

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. alarm

   A sudden apprehension of being attacked by surprise, or the notice of such attack being actually made. It is generally signified by the discharge of fire-arms, the beat of a drum, etc.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. alarm

   The alarm symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the alarm symbol and its characteristic.

Matched Categories

1. • Device
   • Signal
   • Warn

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'alarm' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4539

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'alarm' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3148

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'alarm' in Nouns Frequency: #1591

Anagrams for alarm »

1. malar, Marla, marla, ramal

How to pronounce alarm?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say alarm in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of alarm in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of alarm in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of alarm in a Sentence

1. Hillary Clinton:

   (It) should alarm us all.

2. Claire Crawford:

   I woke up to one of the ladies who had been giving me mouth-to-mouth. And the AED machine was shouting, ‘CPR! CPR!’ and the alarm was going off.

3. Christine Lagarde:

   Let me be clear: we are on alert, not alarm. There has been a loss of growth momentum, however, if policymakers can confront the challenges and act together, the positive effects on global confidence - and the global economy - will be substantial.

4. David Andrew Weinberg:

   The sectarian element of this conflict is very significant … the Saudis have not shown themselves to be particularly concerned with power struggles between one faction or another in Yemen over the years, but when they see another Middle Eastern capital falling to Iranian, Shiite proxies, they have alarm bells going off.

5. Carl Sciortino:

   The sheer volume of searches shows how much interest there is, but it's also an alarm bell, there is a lack of information or general awareness.

Images & Illustrations of alarm

Popularity rank by frequency of use