startle

“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

Percussion instruments—including a whistle and slap-stick—interrupt and startle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

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

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

But when she sees another dog, everything changes: she snarls, barks loud enough to startle a city block, and lunges with so much force it takes all my strength to hold her back.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2025

Elodin shouted, waving his arms in the air like a farmer trying to startle crows out of a field.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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

“They’re a bit of a nuisance, especially if one takes off from a bush next to people and startles them,” Knight said.

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2024

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

Stepping outside, I nearly trip down the stairs because lake is standing by my front door and totally startles me.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

He looked startled for a moment and then with an uncharacteristic grin replied that he considered that a welcome compliment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

While holding Gnocchi, a large street cleaning truck whipped down the street and startled him into clawing away.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 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

"I was startled awake and immediately went to my child's room," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

He went by Ivan in the same manner, and the fool startled.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

Aerial reporters possess a peculiar intimacy with listeners, their voices and visuals filling cars and houses with their personalities as well as useful, even startling, real-time information.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

During Friday’s 9/11 commemorations, it was startling to realize that one-third of the American population today wasn’t born when it happened.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

But that is by design, said INRIA's Serena Ivaldi, as the robots "have to act in human environments" without startling the people they help.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

Airlink's flying feat divided opinion with some labelling the startling manoeuvre reckless, while others praised the precision and expertise on display.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

In the waiting, she fell asleep herself, startling awake only when she heard the floorboards singing a song she hadn’t heard before.

From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi