alarm

alarmnoun

Alarm is a sudden feeling of fear, or a device or sound that warns people of danger or wakes them up.

1. feara sudden feeling of fear or worry caused by danger

   uncountable [U]

   • She jumped up in alarm when she heard the crash.
   • There's no cause for alarm; the noise was just the wind.
   • His face showed alarm when he saw the smoke.

   Collocations

   preposition + noun in alarm, with alarm

   verb + noun cause alarm, raise the alarm

   Synonyms fear

2. devicea device, or the loud sound it makes, that warns people of danger or wakes them up

   countable [C]

   • The fire alarm went off during the meeting.
   • I forgot to set my alarm and woke up late.
   • The car alarm kept ringing all night.
   • Someone turned off the alarm before the firefighters arrived.

   Collocations

   noun + noun fire alarm, car alarm, burglar alarm

   verb + noun set an alarm, turn off an alarm

   noun + verb an alarm goes off, an alarm rings