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Definitions

startle

[stahr-tl] / ˈstɑr tl /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

They then measured how the mice responded using a modified auditory startle test.

From Science Daily May 15, 2026

Few people who have been on the national stage this long retain an ability to startle.

From The Wall Street Journal Nov. 24, 2025

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

The next thing Ms Lees knew, the kangaroo had launched towards her car, which she had slowed to a crawl so as not to startle the animal, and started to attack it.

From BBC May 23, 2025

If a pug snorts a funny backward snuffle, it might startle you enough to accidentally step in its poop.

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein

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

The pop of a champagne bottle in the kitchen quickly startles the crowd.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 15, 2024

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

A noise in the kitchen startles me from my reading and I check the clock.

From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na

Black said he was startled, although not totally surprised.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 29, 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

Chalong then left the scene, and phoned a startled journalist he knew who was in the middle of a live broadcast on YouTube, to tell her what had happened.

From BBC Aug. 16, 2026

Likewise, viewers will not be startled when Marina eventually discovers painful secrets about her mom and dad that cause her to reconsider those phantom figures.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 1, 2026

Stanton, startled by her cry, and fearing that the president had died, rushed into the room and called out loudly, “Take that woman out and do not let her in again.”

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson

That startling conversion is the subject of Dennis C. Rasmussen’s “Frederick Douglass’s American Founding,” an engaging, lucid intellectual history.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 4, 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

After Saturday’s loss in Detroit, it had been a startling nine games since Ohtani homered or collected an RBI.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 30, 2026

"Stop right there," called Nok, her voice startling her as it rang off the limestone.

From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat




Vocabulary lists containing startle


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