siren

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“
"I have known Mr. Hamon in many rôles," interrupted Jim, "but I confess that Hamon the siren is a new one on me."

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Definitions (24)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A device in which compressed air or steam is driven against a rotating perforated disk to create a loud, often wailing sound as a signal or warning.
  2. noun An electronic device producing a similar sound as a signal or warning: a police car siren.
  3. noun Any of several salamanders of the family Sirenidae, such as the mud eel, having an eellike body, permanent external gills, small forelegs, and no hind limbs.

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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • The truth was, Roy didn't want to be in the emergency room to see what the siren was all about. —  Hoot
  • Of course the siren was a conniving female, the ultimate one! —  The Source of Magic
  • These include a young woman floating in the ocean (Humbert characterizes nymphets as a kind of siren or mermaid), the American highways on which Humbert and Lolita travel, an arctic landscape that Humbert visited once; and the desolate hotel rooms where he brings Lolita to satisfy his lust. —  Histriomastix
  • With concerns the siren was too loud for nearby residents, the village deactivated the siren in 2006, relying instead on pagers to alert volunteers. —  MPNnow Home RSS
  • In fact, Elwell said the average time it takes for a Naples firefighter to report to the station has gone from 5 to 7 minutes down to 2 to 3 minutes, the same levels the station had when the siren was last in use. —  MPNnow Home RSS
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

klaxon ·  whistle ·  trumpet ·  bugle ·  wail ·  banshee ·  hoot ·  screech ·  clang ·  alarm ·  whine ·  roar

Used in the same contextWord Family

siren:   sirens
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French sirène, from Old French sereine, Siren, from Late Latin Sīrēna, from Latin Sīrēn, from Greek Seirēn.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Early modern English also syren, sirene; from Middle English sirene, syrene, also serein, sereyn, from Old French sereine, French sirène =Provencal serena =Spanish sirena =Portuguese serea, sereia =Italian sirena, serena =D, sireen =G. Dan, sirene =Swedish siren, from Latin siren, Middle Latin also sirena and serena (by confusion with L, serena, feminine of serenus, serene), from Greek σειρήν, a siren; formerly supposed to mean ‘entangler,’ from σειρά, a cord; but prob. akin to σῦριγξ, a pipe (see syringe), Sanskrit√ svar, sound, praise (later svara, a sound, voice, etc.), and English swear, swarm.
 

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/ˈsaɪrɛn/
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