# startle
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English startlen, stertlen, stertyllen (“to rush, stumble along”), from Old English steartlian (“to kick with the foot, struggle, stumble”), equivalent to start +‎ -le. Cognate with Old Norse stirtla (“to hobble, stagger”), Icelandic stirtla (“to straighten up, erect”). Compare also Middle English stertil (“hasty”). More at start.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈstɑːt(ə)l/
* (US) IPA: /ˈstɑɹt(ə)l/
* Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)təl
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Verb

startle (third-person singular simple present startles, present participle startling, simple past and past participle startled)
* (intransitive) To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.
    a horse that startles easily
** 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, page 1:Why shrinks the soul / Back on herself, and startles at destruction?
** 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Proposal of Marriage”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 127:He felt, too, that he was acting unjustly by Ethel: he had allowed a fortnight to elapse—he startled when he numbered up the days; it is strange how we allow them to glide imperceptibly away.
* (transitive) To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.
** 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:The supposition, at least, that angels do sometimes assume bodies need not startle us.
** 1896, Joseph Conrad, chapter I, in An Outcast of the Islands, London: T. Fisher Unwin […], →OCLC, part I, page 10:Nothing could startle her, make her scold or make her cry. She did not complain, she did not rebel.
** 1997, R. L. Stine, Say Cheese and Die, Again!:The high voice in the night air startled me. Without thinking, I started to run. Then stopped. I spun around, my heart heaving against my chest. And saw a boy. About my age.
* (transitive, obsolete) To deter; to cause to deviate.
** 1660, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, The Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon, Lord High Chancellor of England:it would blast all their hopes, and startle all other princes from joining
** 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.

#### Synonyms

* (to move suddenly): start
* (to excite suddenly): alarm, frighten, scare, surprise
* (deter): deter

#### Derived terms

* startle up
* startling

#### Translations
### Noun

startle (plural startles)
* A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.
** 1845, George Hooker Colton, James Davenport Whelpley, chapter 1, in The American review:The figure of a man heaving in sight amidst these wide solitudes, always causes a startle and thrill of expectation and doubt, similar to the feeling produced by the announcement of " a strange sail ahead" on shipboard, during a long voyage.

#### Derived terms

* startle reflex
* startler
* startlish

#### Translations
### See also

* skittish

### Anagrams

* Statler, rattles, Stalter, tatlers, Slatter, slatter, starlet, telstar