scarecrow

Meanings

Noun

an effigy in the shape of a man to frighten birds away from seeds
An effigy, typically made of straw and dressed in old clothes, fixed to a pole in a field to deter birds from eating crops or seeds planted there.
A person or animal regarded as resembling a scarecrow (sense 1) in some way; especially, a tall, thin, awkward person; or a person wearing ragged and tattered clothes.
Synonym of crow scarer (“a farmhand employed to scare birds from the fields”).
Anything that appears terrifying but presents no danger; a paper tiger.
Military equipment or tactics used to scare and deter rather than cause actual damage.
The black tern (Chlidonias niger).
The hooded crow (Corvus cornix).

Verb

To cause (a person, their body, etc.) to look awkward and stiff, like a scarecrow (noun sense 1).
To cause (a person, their body, etc.) to look awkward and stiff, like a scarecrow (noun sense 1).
To splay (one's arms) away from the body, like the arms of a scarecrow.
To frighten or terrify (someone or something), as if using a scarecrow.
To spoil the appearance of (something, such as the landscape or a view), as scarecrows may be regarded as doing.

Origin / Etymology

The noun is derived from scare (“to frighten, startle, terrify”) + crow (“bird of the genus Corvus”). The word displaced other terms such as bogle (now dialectal, dated), sewel or shewel, and shoy-hoy (perhaps imitative of the cry of crows).
The verb is derived from the noun.

Synonyms

beanpole, bird-scarer, crow scarer, crowkeeper, frayboggard, gallicrow, gallybagger, malkin, mammet, potato-bogle, scare-beggar, scare-the-birds, scarecrow, scarer, straw man, strawman

Scrabble Score: 16

scarecrow is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
scarecrow is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
scarecrow is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 18

scarecrow is a valid Words With Friends word