SCARECROW

scarecrow, straw man, strawman, bird-scarer, scarer

(noun) an effigy in the shape of a man to frighten birds away from seeds

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

scarecrow (plural scarecrows)

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.

(figuratively, pejorative) A tall, thin, awkward person.

(figurative) Anything that appears terrifying but presents no danger.

A person clad in rags and tatters.

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

Synonyms

• (effigy made of straw): See scarecrow

Coordinate terms

• straw man

Verb

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

(transitive) To splay rigidly outward, like the arms of a scarecrow.

Source: Wiktionary

Scare"crow`, n.

1. Anything set up to frighten crows or other birds from cornfields; hence, anything terifying without danger. A scarecrow set to frighten fools away. Dryden.

2. A person clad in rags and tatters. No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I'll not march with them through Coventry, that's flat. Shak.

3. (Zoöl.)

Definition: The black tern. [Prov. Eng.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition