automobile horn
1
2.1
- noun
- /ˈɔːtəməˌbiːl hɔrn/
:
claxon
- A bell or an automobile horn makes him jump, forces him to stand anxiously, his hand on his chest, because of the nervous palpitations of his heart.
Examples
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The sound of the automobile horn alerted everyone to move out of the way.
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A loud automobile horn can be heard from blocks away during rush hour.
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It will not suffice to define hallucinations as experiences which use no stimulus information, because many do: an automobile horn outside may make me dream of Gabriel's trumpet.
Academic text (1996) -
She pressed the automobile horn to warn the pedestrian crossing the street.
Synonyms
183
1.0
A device that makes a loud sound to warn or signal people
6
1.1
A loud sound a driver makes to warn others or get attention
3
8.5
A loud electric horn used as a warning, often on vehicles
1
6.2
A part of a vehicle that makes a loud sound to warn people
1
3.0
A loud horn that uses compressed air to make a strong sound on trucks or ships
1
9.3
A loud electric horn used on older cars
A part on a vehicle that makes a loud sound to warn people
How Loud
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of 'automobile horn' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'automobile' (a powered vehicle) and 'horn' (a device that emits a warning signal); it denotes the horn belonging to or fitted to a car. This is a literal, compositional noun phrase found across languages and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
Automobile horn comes from the first car horns, which were simple animal-style horns or a rubber bulb you squeezed to make a loud 'honk'. That loud sound was used to get people's attention, so today automobile horn means the device on a car that makes a 'warning' sound.