I. ˈstär]d. ə l, -tȧ], ]t ə l verb
( startled ; startled ; startling ]d. ə liŋ, ]t( ə )l-\ ; startles )
Etymology: Middle English stertlen, from sterten to start + -len -le — more at start
intransitive verb
1. chiefly Scotland : to run about wildly
2.
a. : to move or jump suddenly as in surprise, fear, or alarm
babies who startle easily — Benjamin Spock
the nervous creature who startles at every sudden sound — J.H.Newman
b. : to awake suddenly from sleep or a dormant state
transitive verb
1. : to excite or rouse by sudden alarm, surprise, fear, or shock : frighten or affect suddenly and usually not seriously : cause to start
startled to see a ghostly silhouette of a submarine — Stewart Beach
2. archaic : to make irresolute : cause to waver
can discover nothing that may startle a discreet belief — Sir Thomas Browne
3. : to bring into a specified state by or as if by startling
ferns that the first rain startles to green life — Marjory S. Douglas
her blank face startled the end of his remark out of his mind — Ellen Glasgow
Synonyms: see frighten
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a sudden mild shock as of surprise or alarm : start
2. : a marked tendency to display the startle pattern especially under conditions of apparently inadequate stimulation