Meanings
-
1
noun
a device that produces a loud, rising and falling sound as a warning, or the sound it makes
An air-raid siren sounded across the city shortly after midnight.
-
2
noun
in Greek mythology, a creature whose enchanting song lured sailors to destruction
In the myth, each Siren tries to draw the ship toward the rocks.
-
3
noun
literary, often dated: a dangerously attractive or seductive woman
The novel portrays the singer as a siren who captivates everyone around her.
-
4
noun
an eel-shaped aquatic salamander with small forelimbs and no hind limbs
The greater siren inhabits shallow wetlands in the southeastern United States.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Middle English siren, via Old French and Latin Siren from Greek Seiren, the mythic singer who lured sailors. The warning-device sense arose from the instrument's piercing sound; zoologists later applied the name to several aquatic animals.