alarm

UK/əˈlɑːm//əˈlɑɹm/

alarm noun: a summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy.

Noun

alarm (countable and uncountable, plural alarms)

(countable) A summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy.
- Arming to answer in a night alarm.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
(countable) Any sound or information intended to give notice of approaching danger; a warning sound to arouse attention; a warning of danger.
- Sound an alarm in my holy mountain.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joel 2:1
- She went about the house in a state of real terror, and yet lied monstrously and wilfully, and invented many of the alarms she spread, and made many of the sounds we heard.1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House
(countable) A device intended to warn or give notice of approaching danger.
- The fire alarm is located high on the wall to prevent tampering.
(countable) A sudden attack; a disturbance.
- Lord Marshal, command our officers-at-arms
  Be ready to direct these home alarms.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
- Is it then true, as distant rumours run,
  that crowds of rivals for thy mother's charms
  thy Palace fill with insults and alarms?1725, Homer, “Book I”, in [Elijah Fenton], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page III
(countable) Sudden surprise with fear or terror caused by the apprehension of danger; a feeling of heightened alertness to risk.
- His actions caused alarm among all the other people in the store, who hurried to leave.
- Alarm and resentment spread through the camp.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans...
(countable) A mechanical device for awaking people or rousing their attention.
- The clock radio is a friendlier version of the cold alarm by the bedside.
(countable) An instance of an alarm ringing, beeping or clanging, to give a noise signal at a certain time.
- Last night's alarm turned out to be nothing, but it was terrifying at the time.

Verb

alarm (third-person singular simple present alarms, present participle alarming, simple past and past participle alarmed)

(transitive) To call to arms for defense.
(transitive) To give (someone) notice of approaching danger or necessary action; to rouse to vigilance; to put on the alert.
- The sudden drop in temperature should alarm you into taking precautions.
- Her illness started to alarm the doctors, who ordered more tests.
(transitive) To produce a warning of approaching danger or necessary action; to emit a signal intended to rouse a recipient to vigilance or put them on the alert.
- The tower cab supervisor and various pilots stated that the LLWAS system frequently alarms because of the thunderstorm activity present, and that airspeed losses are common as a result of convective wind shear.1985 March 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.2 Environmental Factors”, in Aircraft Accident Report: United Airlines Flight 663, Boeing 727-222, N7647U, Denver, Colorado, May 31, 1984, page...
(transitive) To surprise with apprehension of danger; to fill with anxiety in regard to threatening evil; to excite with sudden fear.
- The loud bang in the hallway seemed to alarm everyone in the building.
(transitive) To keep in excitement; to disturb.

alarm meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

alarm in Hindi

notice of approaching danger: चेतावनी cetāvnī
to give notice (by sound or otherwise) of approaching danger: चेतावनी cetāvnī

alarm in Tamil

mechanical contrivance for awaking: அலாரம் alāram

alarm in Marathi

अलार्म

alarm in Urdu

alarm, panic: دہشت dahśat

More languagesFewer languages

alarm in Bengali: ঘাবড়ান ghabṛano
alarm in Telugu: ఉద్వేగం udvēgaṁ
alarm in Malayalam: വൈരം vairaṁ
alarm in Kannada: ದಿಗಿಲು digilu, ಅಡಾವುಡಿ aḍāvuḍi
alarm in Gujarati: ગભરામણ gabhrāmaṇ
alarm in Odia: ଆଲାର୍ମ, ଆଲାର୍ମ୍
alarm in Sanskrit: भीति bhīti, किट् kiṭ
alarm in Sinhala: කුලප්පුව kulappuwa
alarm in Assamese: এলাৰ্ম elarmo
alarm in Nepali: अलार्म
alarm in Arabic: إِنْذَار ʔinḏār
alarm in Malay: penggera, weker
alarm in Thai: นาฬิกาปลุก naa-lí-gaa-bplùk, รบกวน róp-guuan
alarm in Vietnamese: sự báo động, báo thức, máy báo thức

Examples of alarm in a sentence

The pranksters activated the fire alarm by spraying deodorant next to it.
When the alarm went off, the thief dropped the booty and ran.
When the alarm went off I sought the exit in a panic.

All 40 example sentences with alarm

Forms of alarm

Noun
plural	alarms
alternative form	alarum
Verb
third-person singular present	alarms
present participle	alarming
past participle	alarmed
past	alarmed

Past tense of alarm: alarmed

Plural of alarm: alarms

Origin of alarm

From Middle English alarme, alarom, borrowed from Middle French alarme, itself from Old Italian all'arme! (“to arms!, to the weapons!”), ultimately from Latin arma (“arms, weapons”).

Words formed from alarm

alarming

Words that rhyme with alarm

19 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about alarm

What does alarm mean?: Alarm means a summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy.
What is alarm in Hindi?: Alarm in Hindi is चेतावनी (cetāvnī). See Alarm meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is alarm?: Alarm can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce alarm?: Alarm is pronounced /əˈlɑːm/ (UK).
What is the plural of alarm?: The plural of alarm is alarms.

Words near alarm in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-alarm.ogg.

Cite this entry: “alarm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alarm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.