noun
klaxon
KLAK-suhn
noun
1
A loud electric horn or alarm, especially the type once used on early cars and emergency vehicles.
"A klaxon blared as the factory shift changed."
verb
1
To sound a loud horn-like alarm.
"The security van klaxoned as it reversed out of the yard."
How to Use Klaxon
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA loud horn-style alarm, or the sound it makes.
Word Forms
klaxoned past tense, klaxons plural, klaxons singular
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A _____ blared as the factory shift changed.
Etymology
Originally a trademark, from a Greek verb meaning "to make a sharp sound." An American manufacturer registered it in the early 1900s for the loud horns fitted to early automobiles, and the name eventually became a generic word for any similar alarm.