scarecrow

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a human-shaped figure placed in a field to frighten birds away from crops

   The farmer tied an old coat around the scarecrow before planting the corn.

2. 2
   noun

   a very thin, ragged, or awkward-looking person

   After weeks in the wilderness, he returned looking like a scarecrow.

Simplified etymology

Scarecrow, recorded from the mid-16th century, combines scare and crow in the same type of formation as cut-throat and daredevil.

Formed from scare + crow. The compound displaced several older regional names for figures used to frighten birds; its figurative use compares a thin or ragged person to such a field figure.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary