false alarm

Noun

false alarm (plural false alarms)

1. (literal) A warning signal (such as the call of sentry, the ringing of a bell, or the shriek of a siren) which turns out to have been given erroneously.
   • "Then, if they rise, shout the alarm at the top of your voice [...] but be careful not to rouse the camp by a false alarm, for if you do, instead of gaining credit we shall become the jest of the whole force."1895, G. A. Henty, chapter 9, in Wulf the Saxon
   • Pistorius explained that a security alarm in his house had gone off the previous night, and that he had taken a gun downstairs to investigate what turned out to be a false alarm.2013 February 25, David Epstein, “Pistorius: The Man, The Myth”, in Sports Illustrated, retrieved 18 Apr 2015
2. (broadly, idiomatic) A thing or occurrence which initially causes fear, distress, etc. but which is subsequently recognized as being no cause for concern.
   • "This may be a false alarm, or a forged letter," said De Bracy.1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XIII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page...
   • The terrible announcement that the baby had been taken in the act of putting a doll's frying-pan into his mouth, and was more than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious turkey, glued on a wooden platter! The immense relief of finding this a false alarm!1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 70
3. (archaic, idiomatic) A person who pretends to be more accomplished or a thing that seems to be of higher quality than is later found to be the case.
   • "I don't believe you're a bank robber, at all! I don't believe you are even a rustler! You're a false alarm!"1911, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 22, in Mavericks
   • "He's an old false alarm, anyway. I'll bet he never heard a real gun go off!"1912, G. Harvey Ralphson, chapter 2, in Boy Scouts in a Submarine

   Antonyms:

   real deal