Alarm

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alarm \A*larm"\ ([.a]*l[aum]rm"), n. [F. alarme, It. all' arme
     to arms ! fr. L. arma, pl., arms. See {Arms}, and cf.
     {Alarum}.]
     1. A summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy.
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              Arming to answer in a night alarm.    --Shak.
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     2. Any sound or information intended to give notice of
        approaching danger; a warning sound to arouse attention; a
        warning of danger.
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              Sound an alarm in my holy mountain.   --Joel ii. 1.
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     3. A sudden attack; disturbance; broil. [R.] "These home
        alarms." --Shak.
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              Thy palace fill with insults and alarms. --Pope.
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     4. Sudden surprise with fear or terror excited by
        apprehension of danger; in the military use, commonly,
        sudden apprehension of being attacked by surprise.
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              Alarm and resentment spread throughout the camp.
                                                    --Macaulay.
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     5. A mechanical contrivance for awaking persons from sleep,
        or rousing their attention; an alarum.
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     {Alarm bell}, a bell that gives notice on danger.
  
     {Alarm clock} or {watch}, a clock or watch which can be so
        set as to ring or strike loudly at a prearranged hour, to
        wake from sleep, or excite attention.
  
     {Alarm gauge}, a contrivance attached to a steam boiler for
        showing when the pressure of steam is too high, or the
        water in the boiler too low.
  
     {Alarm post}, a place to which troops are to repair in case
        of an alarm.
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     Syn: Fright; affright; terror; trepidation; apprehension;
          consternation; dismay; agitation; disquiet; disquietude.
  
     Usage: {Alarm}, {Fright}, {Terror}, {Consternation}. These
            words express different degrees of fear at the
            approach of danger. Fright is fear suddenly excited,
            producing confusion of the senses, and hence it is
            unreflecting. Alarm is the hurried agitation of
            feeling which springs from a sense of immediate and
            extreme exposure. Terror is agitating and excessive
            fear, which usually benumbs the faculties.
            Consternation is overwhelming fear, and carries a
            notion of powerlessness and amazement. Alarm agitates
            the feelings; terror disorders the understanding and
            affects the will; fright seizes on and confuses the
            sense; consternation takes possession of the soul, and
            subdues its faculties. See {Apprehension}.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alarm \A*larm"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Alarmed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Alarming}.] [Alarm, n. Cf. F. alarmer.]
     1. 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.
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     2. To keep in excitement; to disturb.
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     3. To surprise with apprehension of danger; to fill with
        anxiety in regard to threatening evil; to excite with
        sudden fear.
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              Alarmed by rumors of military preparation.
                                                    --Macaulay.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  alarm
       n 1: fear resulting from the awareness of danger [syn: {dismay},
            {consternation}]
       2: a device that signals the occurrence of some undesirable
          event [syn: {warning device}, {alarm system}]
       3: an automatic signal (usually a sound) warning of danger
          [syn: {alert}, {warning signal}, {alarum}]
       4: a clock that wakes sleeper at preset time [syn: {alarm clock}]
       v 1: 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" [syn: {dismay}, {appal}, {appall}, {horrify}]
       2: 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" [syn: {alert}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  177 Moby Thesaurus words for "alarm":
     Angelus, Angelus bell, Roman candle, abject fear, admonishment,
     admonition, affright, aid to navigation, alarum, alert, amaze,
     amber light, anxiety, apprehension, arouse, astonish, awe,
     balefire, battle cry, beacon, beacon fire, bell, bell buoy,
     birdcall, blinker, blue funk, blue peter, bugle call, buoy, call,
     caution, caution light, caveat, cold feet, consternation,
     cowardice, cry havoc, cry wolf, curdle the blood, daunt,
     deterrent example, discomfort, dismay, disquiet, distress, disturb,
     dread, example, excitement, fear, final notice, final warning,
     flare, fly storm warnings, fog bell, fog signal, fog whistle,
     foghorn, forewarning, fright, frighten, funk, glance, go light,
     gong, gong buoy, green light, heliograph, high sign, hint, horn,
     horrification, horripilate, horror, international alphabet flag,
     international numeral pennant, kick, last post, leer, lesson,
     make one tremble, marker beacon, monition, moose call, moral,
     nervousness, nod, notice, notification, nudge, object lesson,
     panic, panic fear, parachute flare, phobia, pilot flag, poke,
     police whistle, prenotice, quarantine flag, radio beacon,
     raise apprehensions, rallying cry, rebel yell, red flag, red light,
     reveille, rocket, sailing aid, scare, semaphore, semaphore flag,
     semaphore telegraph, shake, sign, signal, signal beacon,
     signal bell, signal fire, signal flag, signal gong, signal gun,
     signal lamp, signal light, signal mast, signal post, signal rocket,
     signal shot, signal siren, signal tower, siren, sound the alarm,
     sound the tocsin, spar buoy, spook, stagger, stampede, startle,
     stop light, strain, stress, summons, surprise, taps, tension,
     terrify, terror, terrorize, the nod, the wink, threat, tip-off,
     tocsin, touch, traffic light, traffic signal, trepidation,
     trumpet call, ultimatum, uneasiness, unholy dread, unman, unnerve,
     unstring, upset, verbum sapienti, war cry, warn, warning,
     warning piece, watch fire, whistle, white flag, wigwag,
     wigwag flag, wink, yellow flag
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Alarm
     a particular quivering sound of the silver trumpets to give
     warning to the Hebrews on their journey through the wilderness
     (Num. 10:5, 6), a call to arms, or a war-note (Jer. 4:19; 49:2;
     Zeph. 1:16).