Scarecrow

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈskɛəkɹəʊ/

Definitions

1. A figure made of straw or other materials dressed in old clothes and placed in fields to frighten birds away from crops
2. A straw-stuffed human-shaped figure dressed in tattered garments and positioned in agricultural fields to deter birds from consuming planted seeds and crops
3. An effigy constructed from hay or similar materials, clothed in worn attire and stationed among growing plants to repel avian creatures through intimidation

Etymology: The name is a plain compound of two English words: "scare," meaning to frighten or startle, and "crow," the bird of the genus Corvus. The figure was built to frighten crows away from crops, so the name describes its job almost literally. The "crow" half is the more surprising one, since crows were the pests the figure was made to deter, not the object of any fear themselves. The word was not the first choice for the job. It displaced older terms such as "bogle," which survives now only in dialect and dated usage, along with "sewel" or "shewel" and "shoy-hoy," the last perhaps imitating the cry of crows. Those older names shared the same purpose, but the compound took over. Scarecrows were also once applied to birds themselves. The black tern and the hooded crow were both at one time called scarecrows, a sense that has since faded from ordinary use.

Synonyms: dummy, figurine, decoy