Startle
['stɑːt(ə)l] or ['stɑrtl]
Definition
(noun.) a sudden involuntary movement; 'he awoke with a start'.
(verb.) to stimulate to action ; '..startled him awake'; 'galvanized into action'.
(verb.) move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm; 'She startled when I walked into the room'.
Typist: Rudy--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.
(v. t.) To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.
(v. t.) To deter; to cause to deviate.
(n.) A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.
Typist: Rosanna
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. Shrink, wince, flinch, start.
v. a. [1]. Frighten, flight, affright, alarm, shock.[2]. Strike with wonder, surprise, astonish, astound, amaze.
n. Shock, START.
Typed by Geraldine
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See FIRM]
Edited by Diana
Definition
v.i. to start or move suddenly: to feel sudden alarm.—v.t. to excite suddenly: to shock: to frighten.—n. sudden alarm or surprise.—n. Start′ler.—adj. Start′ling such as to strike with astonishment or alarm.—adv. Start′lingly.—adj. Start′lish apt to start.
Checked by Calvin
Examples
- What was there in this simple and somewhat pretty sleeping-closet to startle the most timid? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- It was not so unlike her father's principles, and her early training, that it need startle her. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- I think our electric powers will rather startle Alcibiades! Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Accept this casket--startle not at its contents. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Mrs. Dorset might startle or dazzle him, but she had neither the skill nor the patience to effect his capture. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Yes, replied Crispin equably, as he prepared to startle the lady; he is going to the East in my yacht. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- It did not startle, it hardly roused her. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Mr. Bell quite startled me when he said, some idea of the kind--' 'Mr. Bell! Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- When I awoke, the wind had risen, and the sign of the house (the Ship) was creaking and banging about, with noises that startled me. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- A twilight calm of happiness then succeeding to their radiant noon, they remained at peace, until a strange voice in the room startled them both. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Before another word could be said by anybody, a thundering knock at the street door startled us all. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- She struck a light and stood startled, listening. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- He looked up at her with his full, elfin eyes startled. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- A rap at the door startled him in this occupation. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- They have the strangest knack of startling you with unpleasant surprises. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It was almost startling, heard for the first time. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Again there was a loud laugh, the most startling of which was the Baronet's, which rattled out like a clatter of falling stones. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- And are your revelations startling? Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Not very; it all depends upon what you call startling. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- The words hardly reached him: he was aware only of her voice, and of the startling fact that not an echo of it had remained in his memory. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- Thus easily do even the most startling novelties grow tame and spiritless to these sight-surfeited wanderers. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- In speaking of education Plato rather startles us by affirming that a child must be trained in falsehood first and in truth afterwards. Plato. The Republic.
- The least thing--nothing--startles you! Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- Her scorn startles me from my dreams; I stand up myself. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It absolutely startles me, now he is in my mind, to find how plainly I see him! Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
Checker: Lowell