Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. 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.
- n. An electronic device producing a similar sound as a signal or warning: a police car siren.
- n. 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.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In Greek myth, one of two, three, or an indeterminate number of seanymphs who by their singing fascinated those who sailed by their island, and then destroyed them. In works of art they are represented as having the head, arms, and generally the bust of a young woman, the wings and lower part of the body, or sometimes only the feet, of a bird. In Attic usage they are familiar as goddesses of the grave, personifying the expression of regret and lamentation for the dead. See
Harpy monument (under harpy), and compare cut underembolon . - n. A mermaid.
- n. A charming, alluring, or enticing woman; a woman dangerous from her arts of fascination.
- n. One who sings sweetly.
- n. A fabulous creature having the form of winged serpent.
- n. In herpetology: Any member of the Sirenidæ.
- n. A Linnean genus of amphibians, now restricted as the type of family Sirenidæ. Also Sirene.
- n. One of the Sirenia, as the manatee, dugong, halicore, or sea-cow; any sirenian.
- n. An acoustical instrument consisting essentially of a wooden or metallic disk, pierced with holes equidistantly arranged in a circle, which can be revolved over a jet of compressed air or steam so as to produce periodic puffs. When the revolutions are rapid enough, the puffs coalesce into a musical tone. The revolution of the disk is effected either by a motor of some kind, or by setting the holes at an oblique angle so that the impact of the jet shall do the work. In the more complicated forms of the instrument two or more tones can be produced at once, either by having two or more concentric circles of holes in the same disk, or by two separate disks: the latter form is called a double siren. The number of revolutions required to produce a given tone can be counted and exhibited in various ways; and the application of the instrument in acoustical experiments and demonstrations is wide. In the cut a is a perforated disk made to revolve by the pressure of the air forced from the bellows beneath through d; b, vertical shaft revolving with the disk, and, by means of a pair of cog-wheels in the box c, turning the two index-hands on their respective dial-plates, and thus registering the number of revolutions made during the time of observation. Very large sirens are sometimes made for use as fog-signals, the sound being conveyed seaward in a large trumpet-shaped tube called a fog-horn, a name also given to the whole arrangement. See
fog-horn . Alsosirene . - n. An apparatus for testing woods and metals to ascertain their sonorous qualities.
- n. In heraldry, the representation of a mermaid, used as a bearing.
- Pertaining to or characteristic of a siren; dangerously alluring; fascinating; bewitching.
- n. A monster without lower extremities.
- n. Same as sympus.
Wiktionary
- n. original sense (Greek mythology) One of a group of nymphs who lured mariners to their death on the rocks.
- n. A device, either mechanical or electronic, that makes a piercingly loud sound as an alarm or signal, or the sound from such a device.
- n. A dangerously seductive woman.
- n. A common name for salamanders of Siren and Sirenidae.
- n. A common name for mammals of Sirenia.
- adj. Relating to or like a siren.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Class. Myth.) One of three sea nymphs, -- or, according to some writers, of two, -- said to frequent an island near the coast of Italy, and to sing with such sweetness that they lured mariners to destruction.
- n. An enticing, dangerous woman.
- n. Something which is insidious or deceptive.
- n. obsolete A mermaid.
- n. (Zoöl.) Any long, slender amphibian of the genus Siren or family
Sirenidæ , destitute of hind legs and pelvis, and having permanent external gills as well as lungs. They inhabit the swamps, lagoons, and ditches of the Southern United States. The more common species (Siren lacertina) is dull lead-gray in color, and becames two feet long. - n. (Acoustics) An instrument for producing musical tones and for ascertaining the number of sound waves or vibrations per second which produce a note of a given pitch. The sounds are produced by a perforated rotating disk or disks. A form with two disks operated by steam or highly compressed air is used sounding an alarm to vessels in fog.
- adj. Of or pertaining to a siren; bewitching, like a siren; fascinating; alluring.
WordNet 3.0
- n. eellike aquatic North American salamander with small forelimbs and no hind limbs; have permanent external gills
- n. a sea nymph (part woman and part bird) supposed to lure sailors to destruction on the rocks where the nymphs lived
- n. an acoustic device producing a loud often wailing sound as a signal or warning
- n. a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive
- n. a warning signal that is a loud wailing sound
Etymologies
- From Middle English, itself from Middle French sereine (itself from Late Latin sirena) and from Latin Sīrēn, ultimately from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirēn). (Wiktionary)
- French sirène, from Old French sereine, Siren, from Late Latin Sīrēna, from Latin Sīrēn, from Greek Seirēn. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Voices yell at her as she shoves and struggles, they curse, someone hits her with an umbrella, but she does not care, the siren is screaming and she must get away, she must, she must, she must.”
“The second one I snapped into place shaped my chesticles into the kind of cone-shape you'd be likely to see on a screen siren from the 1940's.”
The Huffington Post: The DC Damsel: Lifting the Ladies: Adventures in Bra-Fitting
“The siren is another name for mermaids who lure sailors to their deaths upon the rocks of the tumultuous ocean.”
“If the siren is still included on Starbucks products today it is in the form of this new, not so improved logo.”
“The Drudge siren is whirring, and the Associated Press is reporting: Barack Obama has done it.”
McCain General Election Message Launch, Take Three (Or So) - Swampland - TIME.com
“Starbucks '"splash sticks" are in the in the shape of the siren from the coffee chain's logo.”
“Furthermore, the siren has nothing whatsoever to do with Moby Dick, as there is no mention of the word siren in the entire book.”
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with...
“By means of an apparatus called the siren, it is possible to calculate the number of vibrations producing any given musical note, such, for example, as middle C on the piano.”
“This dub siren sound engine is based on a classic siren circuit using two square wave oscillators generated by 555 timer IC's, with 100% analogue circuitry creating”
“The siren is supposed to be (bleep) aggressive; it’s supposed to yell Oi!”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘siren’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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supernatural creatures according to M...
Turned this up on etymonline.com (link). It's amazing.
Hobbit (n.)
1937, coined in the fantasy tales of J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973).
On a blank leaf I scrawled: 'In a hole...niss, nisses, thrummy-cap, fairy, whitewoman, nicknevin, sibyl, fates, sprite, gnome, cuttie, scrat and 186 more...
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Mythical Beings
mermaid, manticore, fairy, brownie, dwarf, elf, leprechaun, selkie, gremlin, puck, pixie, genie and 97 more...
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common/uncommon GRE
Combination some common, some uncommon preparation of GRE words.
thwart, schmooze, siren, ebullient, eclectic, efficacy, adorn, felicitous, grandiloquent, eloquence, epitomize, vilify and 10 more...
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cryptids, bestiaries & mythology
pope lick monster, urisk, vargr, yale, bonnacon, crocotta, caladrius, basilisk, cockatrice, agathodaemon, ajattara, akaname and 10 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1827 more...
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capitalcreative's Words
deviltry, visceral, cassanova, assuage, genesis, hot minute, osmosis, wistful, sublime, loathe, farfetched, newfangled and 283 more...
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Mythology
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Words I like
There's nothing more to this list, really.
lily, defenestrate, gloaming, aesthetically, melody, translucent, semiotics, wistful, linear, origami, plethora, schadenfreude and 92 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (S)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
sabian symbols, saffron, sagacious, sage, salamander, sally lunn, salmon, salsify, salt water taffy, samhain, sand dollar, sandalwood and 270 more...
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theastic's Words
cellar, stalemate, wrought, opal, tyrant, squelch, squab, linen, tartan, paisley, scope, siren and 395 more...
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Nightbloom's List
adumbrate, beatific, blandiloquent, caliginous, champagne, anointed, chatoyant, chiaroscuro, diffuse, dulcet, ebullient, efflorescence and 94 more...
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junemoonchild's Favorite Words
Aubrey, astrology, Cancer, Taurus, dybbuk, enchantress, love, mystery, mysteriarch, spirit, melancholy, disintegration and 129 more...
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kenzie's Words
epiphany, rhapsody, melody, cacophany, zenith, meticulous, sly, portent, synchronicity, juggernaut, evensong, script and 99 more...
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Damieng's Words
lupine, sapor, boz imp, imp, ovine, saracen, haberdashery, tiebar, shill, cutler, cutaway, lucite and 218 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for siren.

ruzuzu "See Harpy monument (under harpy), and compare cut under embolon." --CD&C May 24, 2012