Library / English Dictionary

WARN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Notify, usually in advance

Example:

I warned you that I would ask some difficult questions

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "warn" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

warner (someone who gives a warning to others)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Ask to go away

Example:

The old man warned the children off his property

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "warn" is one way to...):

enjoin; order; say; tell (give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Notify of danger, potential harm, or risk

Example:

The doctor warned me about the dangers of smoking

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "warn" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Verb group:

admonish; discourage; monish; warn (advise or counsel in terms of someone's behavior)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "warn"):

forewarn; previse (warn in advance or beforehand; give an early warning)

admonish; caution; monish (warn strongly; put on guard)

threaten (to utter intentions of injury or punishment against)

alarm; alert (warn or arouse to a sense of danger or call to a state of preparedness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody of something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

warner (someone who gives a warning to others)

warning (a message informing of danger)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Advise or counsel in terms of someone's behavior

Example:

She warned him to be quiet

Synonyms:

admonish; discourage; monish; warn

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "warn" is one way to...):

advise; counsel; rede (give advice to)

Verb group:

warn (notify of danger, potential harm, or risk)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam cannot warn Sue

Derivation:

warning (cautionary advice about something imminent (especially imminent danger or other unpleasantness))

Credits

 Context examples: 

When it warn't Em'ly, I went on agen.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

And when they took it away she got well, and told them all that had passed; and they warned her once more not to open the door to anyone.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

It serves as a warning system to rest or avoid certain activities.

(Opioid Pain Relievers May Prolong Pain, NIH)

If global food production patterns do not change, the environmental impact of food could nearly double by 2050, the researchers warned.

(Model shows pathway to feeding the world, SciDev.Net)

News will come suddenly, without warning, near December 15, plus or minus two days.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Pray don’t think it a liberty if I give you a word of friendly warning.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But I must warn you also that, if you think you will find much that is of interest in your guide, you are destined to disappointment.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I know it is,—replied her mother seriously, or after such a warning, I should be the last to encourage such affection, or even to be pleased by it.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

And yet you warn me that I must not place my love too high.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Speaking of knives,” said another, “why don't we find his'n lying round? Flint warn't the man to pick a seaman's pocket; and the birds, I guess, would leave it be.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)