alarums and excursions
alarums and excursions noun: all the sounds and activities of preparations for war.
Noun
alarums and excursions pl (plural only)
- All the sounds and activities of preparations for war.
- The French armies were not far off, and there were alarums and excursions all along the border.1898, Henry Augustin Beers, chapter 11, in 18th Century: A History of English Romanticism
- Any frantic activity.
- He had been well aware ever since his coming to Hathelsborough of an atmosphere of intrigue and mystery; every development that occurred seemed to thicken it. . . . It puzzled him, being still a stranger to the habits and customs of these people, to see that life in Hathelsborough went on, amidst...1922, J. S. Fletcher, chapter 19, in In the Mayor's Parlour
- The various alarums and excursions in The Rock that early evening did not dent attendance at these meetings very much […]1991, Stephen King, Needful Things
Origin of alarums and excursions
From a Shakespearean stage direction, indicating that soldiers should march across the stage, blowing bugles and beating drums, etc.
Questions about alarums and excursions
- What does alarums and excursions mean?
- Alarums and excursions means all the sounds and activities of preparations for war.
- What part of speech is alarums and excursions?
- Alarums and excursions is a noun.
Words near alarums and excursions in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: alarums and excursions (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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