In feudal times a ʹlarum bell was rung in the castle in times of danger to summon the retainers to arms. A variant of alarm (q.v.).
“Awake! awake!
Ring the alarum bell! Murder and treason”
Shakespeare: Macbeth, ii. 3.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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