scarecrow

English

Wikipedia

Scarecrows in a rice paddy in Japan.

Etymology

scare + crow

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈskɛə.krəʊ/
• (US) IPA: /ˈskɛr.kroʊ/

Noun

scarecrow (plural scarecrows)

1. An effigy, typically made of straw and dressed in old clothes, fixed to a pole in a field to deter birds from eating seeds or crops planted there.
2. (figuratively, pejorative) A tall, thin, awkward person.
3. (figuratively) Anything that appears terrifying but offers no danger.

   A scarecrow set to frighten fools away. — Dryden.

4. A person clad in rags and tatters.

   No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I'll not march with them through Coventry, that's flat. — Shakespeare.

5. (UK, dialect) A bird, the black tern.

Translations

an effigy made to scare the birds away

• Afrikaans: voëlverskrikker (af)
• Armenian: խրտվիլակ (hy) (xrtvilak)
• Bashkir: ҡарасҡы (qarasqï)
• Basque: txorimalo (eu)
• Catalan: espantall (ca) m, babarota (ca) f, espantaocells (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 稻草人 (cmn) (dàocǎorén)

• Czech: strašák (cs) m
• Danish: fugleskræmsel (da) n
• Dutch: vogelverschrikker m, (dialectal) vogelschrik m
• Esperanto: birdotimigilo
• Finnish: variksenpelätin (fi), variksenpelätti (fi), linnunpelätin (fi)
• French: épouvantail (fr) m
• German: Vogelscheuche (de) f
• Greek: σκιάχτρο (el) (skiáchtro) n
• Hungarian: madárijesztő (hu)
• Icelandic: fuglahræða (is)
• Indonesian: orang-orangan (id), penakut burung (id)
• Italian: spaventapasseri (it) m

• Japanese: かかし (ja) (kakashi)
• Korean: 허수아비 (ko) (heosuabi)
• Maricopa: chiyer thʼer
• Norwegian: fugleskremsel (no)
• O'odham: vaṣai gakidagĭ odham
• Polish: strach na wróble (pl) m
• Portuguese: espantalho (pt)
• Romanian: sperietoare (ro) f, momâie (ro) f
• Russian: пугало (ru) (púgalo) n, чучело (ru) (čúčelo) n
• Serbo-Croatian: strašilo (sh) n, plašilo n
• Slovene: ptičje strašilo (sl) n
• Sotho: setshosa (st)
• Spanish: espantapájaros (es) m
• Sundanese: bebegig (su)
• Swedish: fågelskrämma (sv) c
• Turkish: korkuluk (tr)
• Welsh: bwgan brain (cy) m

tall, thin, awkward person

• Finnish: variksenpelätin (fi)

• Slovene: strašilo (sl) n

See also

• bird-scarer
• scarer

Verb

scarecrow (third-person singular simple present scarecrows, present participle scarecrowing, simple past and past participle scarecrowed)

1. (transitive) To splay rigidly outward, like the arms of a scarecrow.
   • 2006, Ron S. King, Nowhere Street (page 109)

     […] his small frame seeming scarecrowed in the over-large black coat.

   • 2010, Robert N. Chan, The Bad Samaritan

     An arctic wind whooshes down Columbus Avenue like the IRT express, catching her bags, scarecrowing her arms, and threatening to take her broad-brimmed hat downtown.