siren

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Si·ren

(sī′rən)

1. Greek Mythology One of a group of sea nymphs who by their sweet singing lured mariners to destruction on the rocks surrounding their island.

2. siren A woman regarded as irresistibly alluring.

[Middle English serein, from Old French sereine; see siren.]

si·ren

(sī′rən)

a. 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.

b. An electronic device producing a similar sound as a signal or warning: a police car siren.

2. Any of several slender aquatic salamanders of the family Sirenidae of eastern North America, having external gills, small forelimbs, and no hind limbs.

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

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

siren

(ˈsaɪərən)

1. (General Engineering) a device for emitting a loud wailing sound, esp as a warning or signal, typically consisting of a rotating perforated metal drum through which air or steam is passed under pressure

2. (Classical Myth & Legend) (sometimes capital) Greek myth one of several sea nymphs whose seductive singing was believed to lure sailors to destruction on the rocks the nymphs inhabited

a. a woman considered to be dangerously alluring or seductive

b. (as modifier): her siren charms.

4. (Animals) any aquatic eel-like salamander of the North American family Sirenidae, having external gills, no hind limbs, and reduced forelimbs

[C14: from Old French sereine, from Latin sīrēn, from Greek seirēn]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

si•ren

(ˈsaɪ rən)

n.

1. (sometimes cap.) any of several supernatural beings in Greek legend who are part woman and part bird and who lure mariners to destruction with seductive singing.

2. a seductively beautiful or charming woman, esp. one who beguiles men.

3. an acoustical device that produces sound by means of a perforated, rotating disk that interrupts a jet of air or steam.

4. an implement of this kind used as a whistle, fog signal, or warning device.

5. any aquatic, eellike salamander of the family Sirenidae, having permanent external gills and no hind limbs.

adj.

6. seductive or tempting, esp. dangerously or harmfully.

[1300–50; Middle English sereyn < Old French sereine < Late Latin Sīrēna, Latin Sīrēn < Greek Seirḗn]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	Siren - a sea nymph (part woman and part bird) supposed to lure sailors to destruction on the rocks where the nymphs lived; "Odysseus ordered his crew to plug their ears so they would not hear the Siren's fatal song" sea nymph - (Greek mythology) a water nymph who was the daughter of Oceanus or Nereus
	2.	siren - a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive enchantress, femme fatale, temptress, Delilah adult female, woman - an adult female person (as opposed to a man); "the woman kept house while the man hunted"
	3.	siren - a warning signal that is a loud wailing sound alarum, warning signal, alarm, alert - an automatic signal (usually a sound) warning of danger
	4.	siren - an acoustic device producing a loud often wailing sound as a signal or warning acoustic device - a device for amplifying or transmitting sound alarm system, warning device, alarm - a device that signals the occurrence of some undesirable event
	5.	siren - eellike aquatic North American salamander with small forelimbs and no hind limbs; have permanent external gills salamander - any of various typically terrestrial amphibians that resemble lizards and that return to water only to breed genus Siren - a genus of Sirenidae

siren

noun

1. alert, warning, signal, alarm It sounds like an air raid siren.

2. seductress, vamp (informal), femme fatale (French), witch, charmer, temptress, Lorelei, Circe She's a voluptuous siren with a husky voice.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

siren

noun

A usually unscrupulous woman who seduces or exploits men:

enchantress, femme fatale, seductress, temptress.

Informal: vamp, witch.

adjective

Tending to seduce:

alluring, bewitching, come-hither, enticing, inveigling, inviting, luring, seductive, tempting, witching.

Translations

صفّارة إنْذارصَفَّارَةُ الْإِنْذَار

siréna

sirene

sireeniseireeni

sirenasiren

sziréna

sírena

sirena

サイレン

경적

sirēna

sirena

siren

เสียงสัญญาณเตือนภัย

siren

còi báo động

汽笛警报器

siren

[ˈsaɪərən] N (all senses) → sirena f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

siren

[ˈsaɪərən] n

(= device) → sirène f
a police siren → une sirène de police
an air-raid siren → une sirène d'alerte aérienne

(MYTHOLOGY) → sirène fsiren call siren song n → chant m des sirènes

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

siren

n (all senses) → Sirene f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

siren

[ˈsaɪər/ən] n (all senses) → sirena

siren

(ˈsaiərən) noun

a kind of instrument that gives out a loud hooting noise as a (warning) signal. a factory siren.

siren

→ صَفَّارَةُ الْإِنْذَار siréna sirene Sirene σειρήνα sirena sireeni sirène sirena sirena サイレン 경적 sirene sirene syrena sirene сирена siren เสียงสัญญาณเตือนภัย siren còi báo động 汽笛

References in classic literature ?

For as to the stage, love is ever matter of comedies, and now and then of tragedies; but in life it doth much mischief; sometimes like a siren, sometimes like a fury.

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It was a forlorn little jingle; the thick air seemed to pinch it off; and in the pauses Harvey heard the muffled shriek of a liner's siren, and he knew enough of the Banks to know what that meant.

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And then Roscoe Sherriff came down, and Dudley Pickering, who for days had been using all his resolution to struggle against the siren, suddenly found that there was no siren to struggle against.

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The spindle turns on the knees of Necessity; and on the upper surface of each circle is a siren, who goes round with them, hymning a single tone or note.

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I thought how, if unplaited, it would have covered her all round as low as the hips, like the hair of a siren. And she had bewitched him.

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...And, above all, shut your ears if you hear the voice singing under the water, the siren's voice!"

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Her bid for the heart of him and the soul of him was finer and more generous than the bid of the Game; yet he dallied with both--held her in his arms, but turned his head to listen to that other and siren call she could not understand.

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The stricken woman, on her back, drumming her heels on the floor, was shrieking persistently and monotonously, like a mechanical siren. Two women, clutching her under the arms, were dragging her down the aisle.

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In describing this Siren, singing and smiling, coaxing and cajoling, the author, with modest pride, asks his readers all round, has he once forgotten the laws of politeness, and showed the monster's hideous tail above water?

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My attention was diverted from this death flurry by a furious yelling, like that of the thing called a siren in our manufacturing towns.

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"Woman, siren that you are, do you persist in fixing on me that fascinating eye, which reminds me that I ought to blush?

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Had you heard it from aboard the Argo, you would have declared it to be the sirens singing, and it would have been found necessary to lash you to the mast.