Tocsin

//ˈtɒksɪn// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An alarm or other signal sounded by a bell or bells, originally especially with reference to France.

    "At half-past one, on the sounding of the tocsin (or bell of the public-house) about fifteen persons were collected, when the Rev. J. Bromley was called to the chair."

  2. 2
    a bell used to sound an alarm wordnet
  3. 3
    A bell used to sound an alarm.
  4. 4
    the sound of an alarm (usually a bell) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
air-raid alarmalarmalarm bellalarm bellalarm clockalarm signal

Example

More examples

"His demand for immediate emancipation fell like a tocsin upon the ears of slaveholders."

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French toquesain (modern tocsin), from Old Occitan tocasenh, from tocar (“strike, touch”) + senh (“bell”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.