scarecrow
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈskɛəkɹəʊ/
ipa: /ˈskɛɚˌkɹoʊ/
Forms: form: scarecrows
form: scare-crow
form: skarcrow
Etymology: The noun is derived from scare (“to frighten, startle, terrify”) + crow (“bird of the genus Corvus”). The word displaced other terms such as bogle (now dialectal, dated), sewel or shewel, and shoy-hoy (perhaps imitative of the cry of crows).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: VVots thou vvho's returnd, / The unthrift Bonvile, ragged as a ſcarre-crovv, / The VVarres have gnavv'd his garments to the skinne: […]
ref: 1637, Thomas Heywood, The Royall King, and the Loyall Subject. […], London: […] Nich[olas] and John Okes, for James Becket, […], →OCLC, Act III, signature E4, verso:
text: [W]e ſet him [the Devil] up like a Scare-Crovv to fright Children and old VVomen, to fill up old Stories, make Songs and Ballads, and in a VVord, carry on the lovv priz'd Buffoonry of the common People; […]
ref: 1726, [Daniel Defoe], “Of the Manner of Satan’s Acting and Carrying on His Affairs in This World, and Particularly of His Ordinary Workings in the Dark, by Possession and Agitation”, in The Political History of the Devil, as well Ancient as Modern: […], London: […] T. Warner, […], →OCLC, part II (Of the Modern History of the Devil), page 222:
text: The things which he had to put on were so old and ragged that they would scarce hold together; and they were so dirty that no ragamuffin of the street would have picked them out of the gutter; no scarecrow in the fields ever had such clothes.
ref: 1887, Walter Besant, “Of Jack’s Escape”, in The World Went Very Well Then […], volume II, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 143:
text: Priapus was frequently represented sculpturally, as a kind of scarecrow among the fields and even as a protection over graveyards.
ref: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 198:
glosses: An effigy, typically made of straw and dressed in old clothes, fixed to a pole in a field to deter birds from eating crops or seeds planted there.
examples: text: The ſeely man ſeeing him ryde ſo ranck, / And ayme at him, fell flatt to ground for feare, / And crying Mercy loud, his pitious handes gan reare. // Thereat the Scarcrovv vvexed vvondrous provvd, / Through fortune of his firſt aduenture fayre, / And vvith big thundring voice reuyld him lovvd; […]
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, , stanzas 6–7, page 220:
text: No eye hath ſeene ſuch skarcrovves. Ile not march vvith them through Couentry vvith them, thats flat: […]
ref: c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
text: So, a true Souldier, / He is his Countreys ſtrength, his Soueraignes ſafety, / And to ſecure his peace, he makes himſelfe / The heyre of danger, nay the ſubiect of it, / And runnes thoſe vertuous hazards, that this Scarre-crovv / Cannot endure to heare of.
ref: 1625 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Staple of Newes. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act IV, scene iv, page 61:
text: In opposition to this society, there sprung up another composed of scarecrows and skeletons, who, being very meagre and envious, did all they could to thwart the designs of their bulky brethren, whom they represented as men of dangerous principles; […]
ref: 1711 March 21 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “SATURDAY, March 10, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 9; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 124:
text: A Conſultation vvas novv entered into, hovv to proceed in order to diſcover the Mother. A Scrutiny vvas firſt made into the Characters of the female Servants of the Houſe, vvho vvere all acquitted by Mrs. VVilkins, and vvith apparent Merit; for ſhe had collected them herſelf, and perhaps it vvould be difficult to find ſuch another Set of Scarecrovvs.
ref: 1749, Henry Fielding, “The Reader's Neck Brought into Danger by a Description, His Escape, and the Great Condescension of Miss Bridget Allworthy”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume I, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book I, pages 21–22:
text: Obedient to this summons there ranged themselves in front of the schoolmaster's desk, half-a-dozen scarecrows, out at knees and elbows, one of whom placed a torn and filthy book beneath his learned eye.
ref: 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Of the Internal Economy of Dotheboys Hall”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 69:
text: 'Why, my friend,' he said, stopping to contemplate the scarecrow, 'where hast thou gotten these rags and this wound?'
 'I have escaped, sir, from a French prison, and have received a hurt on the forehead.'
ref: 1887, Walter Besant, “How Jack Came Home Again”, in The World Went Very Well Then […], volume I, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 246:
text: Many of the palki gāris used as hack cabs in Calcutta and other large towns, owned by speculators who know nothing of their business, including liquor-sellers, table-servants, and even priestesses of Venus retired from business, are drawn by scarecrows that recall in a reduced and shadowy form the outlines of Bewick's grim woodcut,—"Waiting for death." But the mercy of death is denied to them.
ref: 1891, John Lockwood Kipling, Beast and Man in India, page 214:
synonyms: beanpole
glosses: A person or animal regarded as resembling a scarecrow (sense 1) in some way; especially, a tall, thin, awkward person; or a person wearing ragged and tattered clothes.
glosses: Synonym of crow scarer (“a farmhand employed to scare birds from the fields”).
synonyms: word: crow scarer
extra: a farmhand employed to scare birds from the fields
examples: text: VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts,
 In open Market-place produc't they me,
 To be a publique ſpectacle to all:
 Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French,
 The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:
text: The greateſt burden in the vvorld is ſuperſtition; not onely of Ceremonies in the Church, but of imaginary and ſcarcrovv ſins at home.
ref: 1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], “To the Parlament of England, with the Assembly”, in The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:
text: A ſcarecrow, ſet to frighten fools away; / Marriage has joys; and you ſhall have aſſay.
ref: a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “Daphnis. From the Twenty-seventh Idyllium of Theocritus.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 422:
text: The Canada West Foundation dismisses these concerns as "political scarecrows"; fearsome at first glance but irrelevant on closer examination. Unfortunately the problems of an elected Senate cannot be dismissed so easily.
ref: 1983, Saskatchewan Law Review, volume 48, Saskatoon, Sask.: College of Law, University of Saskatchewan, →OCLC, page 114:
glosses: Anything that appears terrifying but presents no danger; a paper tiger.
topics: government
military
politics
war
qualifier: World War II
glosses: Military equipment or tactics used to scare and deter rather than cause actual damage.
glosses: The black tern (Chlidonias niger).
glosses: The hooded crow (Corvus cornix).
Synonyms: word: crow scarer
word: crowkeeper
word: frayboggard
word: gallicrow
word: gallybagger
word: malkin
word: mammet
word: potato-bogle
word: scare-beggar
word: scare-the-birds
word: scarecrow
Hypernyms: word: artifact
word: effigy
word: object of fear
Hyponyms: word: moggy
word: scare-bullfinch
word: scaregoose
word: straw man
Coordinate terms: straw man
Derived terms: scarecrowish
scarecrowlike
Related terms: word: clapper