Other forms: alarmed, alarms, alarming
An alarm is a loud noise made to grab your attention fast. The one beside the bed at half past six, the smoke alarm that goes off because of toast, the car in the street that screams when somebody leans on it.
The word covers both the sound and the machine that makes it: a burglar alarm, a fire alarm, set the alarm for seven. It is also a feeling — the cold jolt when something is wrong. She read the letter with growing alarm. There is no cause for alarm. From that comes the verb: news that alarms people frightens them. Fixed phrases cluster here — raise the alarm, sound the alarm, a false alarm, alarm bells started ringing. One thing to get right: an alarm goes off, even though it is starting rather than stopping.
1nounalarmA device that makes a loud sound to wake you or to warn you.~80%
“The alarm went off at six and he lay there hating it.”
synonyms: alarm clock
2nounsignalA loud sound or signal warning of danger.~12%
“The fire alarm sent everyone out into the car park.”
3nounfeelingA sudden feeling of fear that something bad is happening.~6%
“She watched the water rising with real alarm.”
4verbfrightenedTo make someone suddenly frightened or worried.~2%
“I do not want to alarm you, but the back door is open.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 16 sentences found in the wild and placed 16 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
Also accepted in games: alarm clock
Alarm was once a shout. Italian all'arme! meant to arms!, the cry that sent soldiers running for their weapons; it travelled through Middle French alarme into English, and behind it stands Latin arma, weapons. Your alarm clock is still yelling at you to pick up a sword.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂er-
Latin
arma — arms, weapons
Middle French
alarme
Middle English
alarme
English, today
alarm
Built from
From Middle English alarme, alarom, borrowed from Middle French alarme, itself from roa-oit - all'arme! (“to arms!, to the weapons!”), ultimately from Latin arma (“arms, weapons”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA