"alarums and excursions" meaning in English

See alarums and excursions in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Etymology: From a Shakespearean stage direction, indicating that soldiers should march across the stage, blowing bugles and beating drums, etc. Head templates: {{en-noun|p|head=alarums and excursions}} alarums and excursions pl (plural only)
  1. All the sounds and activities of preparations for war. Tags: plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-alarums_and_excursions-en-noun-mQ6ZEUTU Categories (other): English coordinated pairs, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 66 34 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 57 43 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 46 54
  2. (idiomatic, by extension) Any frantic activity. Tags: broadly, idiomatic, plural, plural-only
    Sense id: en-alarums_and_excursions-en-noun-vQMd9I4E Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English pluralia tantum, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 51 Disambiguation of English pluralia tantum: 42 58 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 46 54
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  "head_templates": [
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1898, Henry Augustin Beers, chapter 11, in 18th Century: A History of English Romanticism:",
          "text": "The French armies were not far off, and there were alarums and excursions all along the border.",
          "type": "quote"
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      ],
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        "All the sounds and activities of preparations for war."
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          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:",
          "text": "The various alarums and excursions in The Rock that early evening did not dent attendance at these meetings very much […]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any frantic activity."
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        "(idiomatic, by extension) Any frantic activity."
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  "etymology_text": "From a Shakespearean stage direction, indicating that soldiers should march across the stage, blowing bugles and beating drums, etc.",
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      ],
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      ],
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  ],
  "word": "alarums and excursions"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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