siren

noun

1. (Greek)One of a group of nymphs who lured mariners to their death on the rocks.

   “Now give ear to what I'm about to say to you, / and a god himself will bring it before your mind. / First, you will come to the Sirens. / These beings enthrall all men who arrive before them. […]”

2. One who sings sweetly and charms.
3. A dangerously seductive woman.
4. A member of Sirenia, an order of mammals.
5. A member of a genus of aquatic salamanders of the family Sirenidae, commonly used for all species in the family Sirenidae.
6. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Hestina.
7. A device, either mechanical or electronic, that makes a piercingly loud sound as an alarm or signal, or the sound from such a device.

   “My attention was diverted from this sight by a furious yelling, like that of the thing called a siren in our manufacturing towns.”

   “1984, Steve Harris, "Aces High", Iron Maiden, Powerslave. There goes the siren that warns of the air raid / Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak / Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne / Got to get up for the coming attack.”

8. A musical instrument, one of the few aerophones in the percussion section of the symphony orchestra (patented as Acme Siren in 1895).
9. An instrument for demonstrating the laws of beats and combination tones.
10. An astrophysical event that can be used for calculating cosmic distances.

verb

1. (intransitive)To make a noise with, or as if with, a siren.
2. (intransitive)To drive with a siren on.

adj

1. Relating to or like a siren.

name

1. A village, the county seat of Burnett County, Wisconsin, United States.
2. A town in Burnett County, Wisconsin, United States, surrounding the village of the same name.