Definition of "fire alarm" [fire alarm]

• A device, such as a siren, used in announcing the outbreak of a fire. (noun)
• The signal, especially the noise, produced by such a device. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It was impossible to endure this farther than Narbonne; sick and suffering, I sought rest, but then came gensdarmes and demanded my passport, and then just as night began, a fire must needs break out in the neighboring village; the fire alarm resounded, the fire-engines rolled along, it was just as though all manner of tormenting spirits were let loose."
• "He saw a fire alarm going off at the Craggan Moor Hotel, all the guests outside in their dressing gowns, Donald and the other resident staff carrying out a head-count and finding that two of their guests were missing."