Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start.
- intransitive verb To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. synonym: frighten.
- intransitive verb To become alarmed, frightened, or surprised.
- noun A sudden, brief episode of fear.
- noun A sudden, involuntary movement in response to something frightening or unexpected, such as a noise.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A sudden movement or shock caused by surprise, alarm, or apprehension of danger; a start.
- To start; manifest fear, alarm, surprise, pain, or similar emotion by a sudden involuntary start.
- To wince; shrink.
- To move suddenly, as if surprised or frightened.
- To take to flight, as in panic; stampede, as cattle.
- To take departure; depart; set out.
- To cause to start; excite by sudden surprise, alarm, apprehension, or other emotion; scare; shock.
- To rouse suddenly; cause to start, as from a place of concealment or from a state of repose or security.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.
- transitive verb rare To deter; to cause to deviate.
- intransitive verb To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.
- noun A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.
- verb To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.
- verb To deter; to cause to deviate.
- noun A sudden
motion orshock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb to stimulate to action
- verb move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm
- noun a sudden involuntary movement
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Kim Kardashian: we am in startle that [Brittany] Murphy has died!
Murphy Remembered, Underwood Engaged, Tila Pregnant, & More ... admin 2009
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The simple reaction that "he must be wrong" because his findings surprise or even startle is simple establishment bias.
Richard Vedder, Sounding Reasonable, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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Kim Kardashian: we am in startle that [Brittany] Murphy has died!
Archive 2009-12-01 admin 2009
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September 30th, 2009 Oregon dad gets trial in startle neck cuff caseSALEM, Ore.
Former astronaut Lisa Nowak gets 1-year probation in attack on ... admin 2009
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September 30th, 2009 Oregon dad gets trial in startle neck cuff caseSALEM, Ore.
Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009
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Occasionally he flung his arms up in what is known as the startle reflex, as if the shock of being in open air was too much for him and he feared falling through space.
a better woman Susan Johnson 1999
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Occasionally he flung his arms up in what is known as the startle reflex, as if the shock of being in open air was too much for him and he feared falling through space.
a better woman Susan Johnson 1999
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Occasionally he flung his arms up in what is known as the startle reflex, as if the shock of being in open air was too much for him and he feared falling through space.
a better woman Susan Johnson 1999
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In this study, U.S. researchers subjected normal-hearing mice and mice with induced tinnitus to a sudden loud sound, called a startle test, and measured their response to an unexpected gap in the noise frequency.
Finding the Pathways to a Cause of Tinnitus Ann Lukits 2011
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This is called the startle reflex; it's an automatic response to fear or danger, and it's very hard to fake.
ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science Ed Yong 2010
Prolagus commented on the word startle
To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.
Emily Dickinson
March 19, 2008