startle

/ˈstɑrdl/

/ˈstɑtəl/

Other forms: startled; startling; startles

To startle is to jump, like when you're surprised. If you’re sneaking through a dark room and step on a sleeping dog’s tail — you might startle the dog. If she barks, that dog startles you right back!

A startle is a quick, sharp movement, like a little jump that happens when you’re surprised or suddenly scared. If you sneak up on your mom and say "Boo!" you’ll startle her and she might jump up in her seat (before she yells at you to quit it). Alarm clocks and barking dogs often startle people. The original meaning of startle, around 1300, was "to run back and forth," from the Old English word styrtan, "to leap up."

Definitions of startle

1. verb

   surprise greatly
   synonyms: ball over, blow out of the water, floor, shock, take aback

   types:

   galvanise, galvanize

   to stimulate to action

   type of:

   surprise

   cause to be surprised
2. verb

   to stimulate to action
   “..startled him awake”

   synonyms: galvanise, galvanize

   type of:

   ball over, blow out of the water, floor, shock, take aback

   surprise greatly; knock someone's socks off
3. verb

   move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm
   “She startled when I walked into the room”

   synonyms: jump, start

   types:

   shy

   start suddenly, as from fright

   boggle

   startle with amazement or fear

   rear back

   start with anger or resentment or in protest

   jackrabbit

   go forward or start with a fast, sudden movement

   type of:

   move

   move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion
4. noun

   a sudden involuntary movement
   synonyms: jump, start

   types:

   startle reaction, startle response

   a complicated involuntary reaction to a sudden unexpected stimulus (especially a loud noise); involves flexion of most skeletal muscles and a variety of visceral reactions

   Moro reflex, startle reflex

   a normal reflex of young infants; a sudden loud noise causes the child to stretch out the arms and flex the legs

   flinch, wince

   a reflex response to sudden pain

   type of:

   inborn reflex, innate reflex, instinctive reflex, physiological reaction, reflex, reflex action, reflex response, unconditioned reflex

   an automatic instinctive unlearned reaction to a stimulus