startle

He understands how to keep viewers vigilant, how to shock them and startle them as soon as they think they know where he’s headed.

From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026

Researchers think these markings may help startle predators.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

“Sudden explosive noise, concussive blasts, and bright flashes have the potential to startle young birds, creating unnecessary risk during a critical period of development.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

It triggers an automatic "startle response" to any loud noise.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

It was enough to startle the truck driver, the same one that had been nodding his head to “Free Bird” two seconds before, into dropping Chubs.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

More than 60 years on, the scene still startles.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026

I am not sure what startles more—that the feat was achieved at all or that it was Mr. Koolhaas’s firm that pulled it off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

Whether seeing the fear in combatants and civilians alike or observing how societal ills followed young servicemembers to the front, Lagoze startles in his prose just as he did in his 2019 documentary, “Combat Obscura.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2023

When something startles the flightless birds, they can be seen sprinting around the edges of their enclosures, flailing their long necks around.

From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2022

Before I realize what I’m doing, I put my hand on his arm, a tiny spontaneous gesture of thanks that startles both of us.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

Haloed by light, the sitter—seemingly startled by our presence—does not occupy so much as define space, which feels malleable, strangely unstable, at times a mirage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

The difference also appeared across all 37 bird species examined, including easily startled magpies and pigeons that typically allow people to approach much more closely.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

“The Pineapple” promised to be intense, but even hours before the show had begun, it had me startled.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

"The two US deportees looked startled and kept asking which country is this and where it is," said a source.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

The boy startled and dropped the coconut, water sloshing over his legs.

From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook

But notice this is already different from the science-fiction fears birthed before AI was a real thing, when simple premises permitted so many startling conclusions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

The red, as startling as a cymbal clap, strikes the eye, but the impending drama remains out of sight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

"I've never heard that before but that was heard again later in the wildfire season. That was startling," he said.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

The private life of disgraced Silicon Valley startup founder Elizabeth Holmes will soon be aired to the public in a startling new documentary filmed in the 34 days before she went to prison.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Conner asked, startling me out of my thoughts.

From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence