alarm bell

(redirected from alarm bells)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus.
Like this video? Subscribe to our free daily email and get a new idiom video every day!

alarm bell

A sudden warning or intimation of danger, risk, or ill fortune. (Often pluralized.) Alarm bells were going off in my head when I saw the panicked expression on her face.
See also: alarm, bell
References in periodicals archive ?
Yesterday's Back Page Headline: BATES: ALARM BELL IS RINGING WHEN my alarm bell rings, I wake up and smell the coffee.
BORO BANTER
The same alarm bells rang out at New Labour who saw millions of Labour voters deserting them.
Letter: Statement just more spin from New Labour; Voice of the North
Still, he talks in a way that makes alarm bells sound in my mind as I recall long dull meetings in the bureaucracy.
In English, please?
To date I haven't heard anything that really sounded the alarm bells to me.
WHAT NOW? SPOTLIGHT ON AT TOXIC 'HOT SPOT'
Unsurprisingly, the price tag raised alarm bells among parents, who feared that it would detract from textbooks and teacher salaries.
"Magic" Bus: technology brings a new way to track precious cargo
Alarm bells in medicine; danger symptoms in medicine, surgery, and clinical specialties.
Alarm bells in medicine; danger symptoms in medicine, surgery, and clinical specialties
Or are the alarm bells likely to bring some kind of changes that will stave off such a calamity?
Pensions: is United deal the tip of the iceberg?
One would think that falling water tables and rivers and wells running dry would ring alarm bells, launching immediate and vigorous water conservation measures.
Outgrowing the Earth
THE European Commission yesterday sounded alarm bells over Europe's falling population.
Report warns of longer life risk
COUNTRYSIDE: I enjoyed the ",Homestead by candlelight" article in the May/June, 2003 issue, but the author's method of melting wax raised alarm bells for me (fire alarm bells).
Melt candle wax safely. (Country conversation & feedback)
Gilbert III, who co-chairs the Energy Committee with Harkins, added, "The ISO's forecast should set off alarm bells because demand for electricity continues to grow despite a steep recession and significant job losses.
Building Congress: city's long-term electricity needs unmet
Alarm bells over the greenhouse effect first came from a Swedish scientist, Svante Arrhenius in 1896.
Green means more than money. (Book Review)
The administration's inaction, she said, "sets off alarm bells as to what the future plans of the administration might be, whether they are keeping their options open to roll back and weaken Title IX enforcement.
Let's get ready to rumble: 30-year-old equity law is showing its age, say wrestling coaches. (In The News)
When they announced they were going to apply the GMO process to wheat, alarm bells went off," says Leake, a backer of North Dakota's legislation.
Second Thoughts
When California filed its petition, alarm bells went off at NCGA.
FROM CORNFIELDS TO CAPITOL HILL
Idioms browser ?
Full browser ?