scarecrow
pronunciation
How to pronounce scarecrow in British English:
UK [ˈskeəkrəʊ]
How to pronounce scarecrow in American English:
US [ˈskerkroʊ]
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- Noun:
- an effigy in the shape of a man to frighten birds away from seeds
Word Origin
- scarecrow (n.)
- 1550s, from scare (v.) + crow (n.). Earliest reference is to a person employed to scare birds. Meaning "device of straw and cloth in grotesque resemblance of a man, set up in a grain field or garden to frighten crows," is implied by 1580s; hence "gaunt, ridiculous person" (1590s). An older name for such a thing was shewel. Shoy-hoy apparently is another old word for a straw-stuffed scarecrow (Cobbett began using it as a political insult in 1819 and others picked it up; OED defines it as "one who scares away birds from a sown field," and says it is imitative of their cry). Also fray-boggard (1530s).
Example
- 1. 9 / 12 Haarlemmermeer , netherlands : a scarecrow goes about its job in a dutch field
- 2. Imagine crazy al pacino as the strange wizard of oz or jim carrey 's physical comedy in the role of the scarecrow .
- 3. The scarecrow doesn 't have a brain , the tin man doesn 't have a heart , and the lion , believe it or not , doesn 't have courage .
- 4. In the streets of el alto , bolivia 's poorest and fastest-growing city , scarecrow dummies hang grotesquely from lampposts with ropes around their necks as a macabre warning to potential thieves and criminals .
- 5. Other famous faces include the scarecrow , lion and tin man from the wizard of oz , and the tentacled face of davy jones , the villain of the pirates of the caribbean trilogy .