You searched for: “alarm
alarm (s) (noun), alarms (pl)
1. A device for giving a warning of danger: The new fire alarm was installed in Ethan's apartment the other day.
2. A security device installed in property; especially, a house or car, to make a warning sound if a break-in or theft is attempted: The new system for the crime-prevention alarms were very loud and so they would help protect the store from criminal invasions.
3. Clocks or watches that will sound off when set: There are time mechanisms that provide alarms for people.
4. Fear caused by the perception of or the sudden sense of imminent danger: Chrissy's parents have expressed alarm about her safety when she goes hiking in the mountains.
5. Etymology: from the old French summons to battle a l'arme!, "to arms!" It seems to be a far cry from the modern alarm clock; yet, that is actually the content of the word's development."

A l'arme! was first the call itself and then, in the form alarme, it became the name of this sudden summons.

The English alarm, which comes from this origin, first had the same meaning, but gradually broadened to indicate a warning signal of any kind of danger, and then the apparatus for giving this signal; such as, a fire alarm.

It is interesting to also note that alarm has developed an additional meaning: the fear which results from a warning of danger.

—Compiled from information located in
Picturesque Word Origins; G. & C. Merriam Company;
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A; 1933; page 13.
This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group A (page 3)
alarm (verb), alarms; alarmed; alarming
To feel a sense of danger or to worry or to frighten someone: The rapid spread of the disease was alarming many people.
This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group A (page 4)
Word Entries containing the term: “alarm
alarm pheromone
A chemical substance exchanged among members of the same species that induces a state of alertness or alarm in the face of a common threat.
This entry is located in the following unit: Ant and Related Entomology Terms (page 1)
alarm-defense system
Defensive behavior which also functions as an alarm signaling device within the colony.

Examples include the use by certain ant species of chemical defensive secretions that double as alarm pheromones.

This entry is located in the following unit: Ant and Related Entomology Terms (page 1)
alarm-recruitment system
A communication system that rallies nest mates to some particular place to aid in the defense of the colony.

An example is the odor trail system of lower termites, which is used to recruit colony members to the vicinity of intruders and breaks in the nest wall.

This entry is located in the following unit: Ant and Related Entomology Terms (page 2)
snooze button, snooze alarm (s) (noun), snooze buttons, snooze alarms (pl)
A button on an alarm clock which stops the alarm from making noise for a short time so the sleeper can rest for a few more minutes: Each morning when the alarm is heard, Eric reaches over and presses on the snooze button so he can sleep for another eight minutes.
This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group S (page 10)